California GOP Rep. Darrell Issa is reportedly holding onto a razor-thin lead in the toughest race in his nearly 16-year career.
Through Wednesday, returns from Orange and San Diego counties showed that Issa was ahead by 3,003 votes over his Democratic challenger, retired Marine Col. Doug Applegate, the San Diego Tribune reported.
San Diego County has an estimated 86,000 mail-in and provisional ballots still to be counted, while Orange County has nearly 49,000 to count.
Applegate isn't conceding, with his campaign manager Robert Dempsey telling the Orange County Register: "We are waiting until every vote is counted."
Issa has held California's 49th District seat since 2001.
The registrar of voters in both counties are expected to release another round of results on Friday, the Tribune reported. State law requires counties to certify their election results by Dec. 8.
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