VANCOUVER, Wash. (KOIN) — Republican incumbent U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera was ahead of Democrat Carolyn Long in early returns in southwest Washington state.

The 3rd District race as one of three hotly contested contests in the state where the GOP was trying to hold on to a seat. Herrera Beutler had 52 percent of the vote compared to Long’s 48 percent in early returns Tuesday.

With the vote-by-mail system in Washington, Clark County received more than 40,000 ballots to count on Wednesday. 

The election office had a machine and hand recount of 600 ballots — comparing the results of Beutler and Long’s close race. The county does the hand recount after every election to ensure the integrity of the automated count.

“I think there’s obviously a lot of interest in that 3rd Congressional District race,” Clark County auditor Greg Kimsey told KOIN 6 News. “Then we did a manual count of the same ballots to see if we’d get the same count and thankfully we did.”

Updated results of the remaining ballots will come out Wednesday night, however, it could take until Friday to determine a winner.

On Tuesday night, Herrera Beutler said she was “cautiously optimistic” as they awaited official results and final counts. 

Herrera Beutler released the following statement late Tuesday night: 

“I’m so grateful to my neighbors in Southwest Washington who have put their faith in me, and I’m confident that the lead we have tonight will hold.  People here know that I’ve always put their interests first, whether it’s securing legislation to usher in record-low unemployment and the biggest wage growth in a decade, fighting against unfair tolling, or protecting our precious salmon.  Past election results have shown time and again that Southwest Washington doesn’t vote only for Republican or Democrat candidates or issues; it’s an independent region that wants its leaders to understand them and fight for their priorities.  We knew all along that this would be a closer race than in the past, given the strong national political headwinds and having been outspent by nearly a million dollars, but tonight’s results show that my record of problem solving and focusing on our economy matters most to voters.”

Herrera Beutler has had relatively easy re-election campaigns before Long entered this year’s race.

Long, a political science professor who never ran for office before, has attracted both attention and money in her campaign for Congress. She’s drawn sharp distinctions between her positions and those of Herrera Beutler.

Talk of a Blue Wave — Democratic voters sweeping Republicans out in an anti-Trump sentiment — has also propelled Long in a race that attracted national attention.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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