Adam Gray declares victory in California's 13th Congressional District as counties certify results

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- In California's 13th Congressional District race, encompassing five counties from Fresno to Stanislaus, every vote counts.

As of Tuesday evening, Democrat Adam Gray leads incumbent Republican John Duarte by 165 votes.

"We saw the same thing in this congressional district two years ago," said Merced County Registrar of Voters Mel Levey.

"In 2022, we had the second closest congressional race in the country, separated by about 500 votes. Certainly this year, we're seeing another close race, the closest in the country, in fact."

While the race has not been officially called by ABC News, Democrat Adam Gray declared victory over Republican Incumbent John Duarte on Tuesday night.

UPDATE: Democrat Adam Gray projected to win California's 13th Congressional District

Gray released a statement saying he's honored to become the congressman-elect.

"The final results confirm this district is ready for independent and accountable leadership that always puts the Valley's people ahead of partisan politics," Gray wrote.

Levey and Fresno Co. Registrar of Voters James A. Kus have both confirmed to Action News that they have certified their election results after meeting the final presidential result deadlines for the state.

"Today is the day your vote will be officially recorded in the final results for Fresno county," said Kus.

Sunday was also the last day for any challenged ballots to be accepted by the counties, making a difference in the close contest.

"We've had several campaigns that were actively out trying to collect those and have them brought in, so we got a bunch of those both by email and electronically, but also physical ones returned to our office throughout the thanksgiving weekend," said Kus.

"We saw a lot of activity here in Merced County with curing ballots, probably more activity than we've ever seen for any election," said Levey.

"I think that speaks to a few things, one being the closeness of several of the races that we had here in the county, including the congressional 13th district."

Levey says it shows an increase in voter engagement and people having their voice heard.

"Certainly we've seen a really close race all along, and you know it's a race where every vote truly does matter and so we've seen the results kind of shift back and forth a little bit," said Levey.

Important dates to note, while many counties are certifying their results Tuesday, they still have until Thursday to do so.

The state however, has to certify their results by December 13th, its only then that a candidate can challenge or ask for a recount.

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