Tight race for Congressional District 13

MERCED COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Hundreds of thousands of ballots are still being counted across the state and in Merced county, as voters await the results of Congressional district 13.

"I understand the public's impatience at times with wanting to know results quickly, but there are a lot of laws that we have to follow quickly in California to make sure that this count is done properly, is done securely, is done accurately," said Mel Levey, Merced Co. Registrar of Voters.

In 2022, only 564 votes separated the race between republican candidate John Duarte and democrat Adam Gray.

Merced county registrar of voters, Mel Levey says it takes time for such a tight race.

"We saw two years ago in this congressional district, this race wasn't decided until early December. We saw two years prior to that in 2020, it took more than three and a half weeks before certification," said Levey.

When signatures can't be verified, candidates can choose to help with the cure process ensuring every vote is counted, regardless of knowing who the person voted for.

"Representatives of both Adam gray and John Duarte have requested that data, they are going door to door in some cases to speak to voters whose signature has been challenged and asking them to fill out that affidavit," said Levey.

Incumbent Duarte telling Action News Tuesday, he knows its not an easy feat to win this race again.

"It's a very Democrat district. It's got a 14% Democrat registration advantage. Winning it as a Republican is never going to be a large margin thing. It's always going to be a very tight race if we win," said (R) Rep. John Duarte.

But he knows its not over, until everyone has had their voice heard.

"We're going to stay patient and wait for it to get called and wait for it to finalize the right way, and I think the other side will too," said Rep. Duarte.

Action News reached out to Gray's campaign team, but he was not available for an interview Tuesday, Action News is expecting to hear from him Wednesday.

California counties have until December 3rd to certify their results with the secretary of state.

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