There’s a new winner in the Congressional District 2 race in southern New Mexico.
Democrat Xochitl Torres Small has finished ahead by a slim one-point margin.
It’s been a wild race to follow after Republican Yvette Herrell declared victory Tuesday night.
Wednesday night there were cheers and tears at Torres Small’s campaign office. It all came down to 8,000 absentee ballots that didn’t get counted Tuesday night.
The Democrat from Las Cruces says the people on her team never lost hope, even for a second. But Tuesday night, Republican Yvette Herrell thought she was the winner by less than 2,000 votes.
She even gave an acceptance speech in Alamogordo. Meanwhile, Xochitl Torres Small refused to concede.
The Dona Ana County Clerk says they received about 8,000 absentee ballots — quadruple the number they normally get. She says they couldn’t finish counting them until Wednesday.
Torres Small gained more than 6,400 votes giving her the win.
Overall Torres Small won by about 2,700 votes, and that has Yvette Herrell saying she believes votes are still out and wants those counted.
While there are still more than 1,000 provisional ballots that have not been counted it doesn’t appear that it will make a difference.
Yvette Herrell has not yet officially conceded.
Republicans have held the seat all but two years since 1981, even though there are more registered Democrats.
