The final House of Representatives race to be decided, nearly a month after Election Day, remains in California and is still too close to call.

In California’s 13th Congressional District, where Republican John Duarte narrowly defeated Democrat Adam Gray in the 2022 midterms by just 564 votes out of approximately 133,000 cast, the race is now even tighter.

Currently, Gray leads Duarte by a mere 143 votes out of around 210,000, with 99% of the ballots counted, according to the California Secretary of State’s report at approximately 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.”

The House of Representatives currently has 220 Republican seats and 214 Democratic seats. If Gray wins, the GOP’s slim majority would stand at only five seats.

The two campaigns have been diligently assisting voters whose ballots were not counted due to signature issues in order to “cure” their ballots. This effort is driven by election workers requesting the proper signatures to ensure the votes are 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.”