The last House of Representatives race to be decided, nearly one month after Election Day, remains in California, and it’s still too close to call.
In California’s 13th Congressional District, where the GOP’s John Duarte defeated Democrat Adam Gray in the 2022 midterm by only 564 votes out of roughly 133,000 ballots cast, Gray leads Duarte by an even narrower margin: 143 votes out of roughly 210,000 votes, with 99% of the votes counted, as the California Secretary of State reported at roughly 6 p.m. on Monday.
“As of Sunday, Gray had been ahead of Duarte by 227 votes. He lost ground Monday, as the latest updates came in from Merced, San Joaquin and Madera counties,” The Merced Focus reported on Monday, adding, “Stanislaus and Fresno counties are expected to update their results Tuesday. But time is winding down, as all California counties must certify their elections by Thursday.”
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The House currently stands at 220 GOP seats and 214 Democrat seats; a Gray win would reduce the narrow GOP majority to just five.
Fresno, Madera, Merced, San Joaquin, and Stanislaus counties comprise the 13th district.
The two campaigns have been working assiduously to assist voters whose ballots had not been counted because of signature issues to “cure” their ballots. That is prompted by election workers asking for the proper signatures so the vote can be counted.
On Tuesday, Duarte stated, “We are currently out curing during ballots with a large contingent. Once all the votes are counted and the election is certified, if I do not prevail, I will concede.” On Wednesday, Gray said, “While this race is still too close to call, I’m am hopeful for our chances following tonight’s ballot-count update. There are still quite a few ballots to count … every vote matters.”
Merced County Registrar of Voters Melvin Levey stated, “We are seeing a lot more activity from campaigns and candidates to have volunteers reach out to voters whose signatures have been challenged so they can cure it. … Every vote matters, every vote counts. We’re seeing that in real time here.”
