Democrats are flipping their seat in California’s Central Valley in the country’s last outstanding House race

Democrats secured the final congressional seat of the 2024 election cycle on Tuesday as Merced Democrat Adam Gray ousted incumbent Republican Rep. John Duarte in a photofinish race in California’s Central Valley.

California’s 13th Congressional District was the last outstanding race for the U.S. House of Representatives and had the narrowest margin in the country. Gray was ahead by 187 votes when Duarte conceded Tuesday night.

After trailing in the first three weeks of vote counting, Gray took the lead on November 26 when mail-in votes went in his favor.

Gray, 47, said in a prepared statement Tuesday that he was honored to be elected and thanked the volunteers, voters, donors, campaign staff and family members who helped him win.

“This district is ready for independent and responsible leadership that always puts the people of the Valley at the forefront of partisan politics,” Gray said.

Gray said he would work to build bipartisan relationships and create “clean water, better educational opportunities, stronger infrastructure and more good-paying jobs.”

Duarte admitted Tuesday evening, a campaign spokesman said.

“That’s how it goes,” Duarte told the Turlock Journal on Tuesday. “I am a citizen lawmaker and did not plan to be in Congress forever. But whenever I think I can make a difference, I will consider various forms of public service, including running for Congress again.”

Republicans will retain a slim majority in the House of Representatives next year. With Gray’s victory, Republicans will have 220 seats – just above the 218-seat threshold needed to control the chamber – and Democrats will have 215.

The GOP will have an even narrower majority for parts of January. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) resigned from the House of Representatives last month. Rep. Michael Waltz of Florida has been named national security adviser to President-elect Donald Trump and is expected to resign, as will Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York if she is confirmed as ambassador to the United Nations.

The 13th Congressional District was one of a half-dozen seats in California considered central to the battle for control of Congress, and one of three seats in the state that Democrats wrested from Republican control.

In Orange County, Democrat Derek Tran ousted Republican Rep. Michelle Steel, and in northern Los Angeles County, Democrat George Whitesides defeated Republican Rep. Mike Garcia. Democrats also held on to a seat vacated by Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine), with state Sen. Dave Min defeating Republican Scott Baugh.

Republicans fared better in the Central Valley’s other swing district, where Rep. David Valadao defeated Democrat Rudy Salas by nearly seven points. Salas filed Tuesday to run for Congress again in 2026.

The GOP also held a seat in Riverside County, where voters reelected longtime Republican Rep. Ken Calvert over Democrat Will Rollins, a former federal prosecutor.

Read more: In a “purple” California district, a Republican congressman is fighting to defend a seat he won by 564 votes

The rural 13th Congressional District stretches from Coalinga to Modesto and includes Merced County and portions of Fresno, Madera, San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties.

On paper, the district appears blue: 42% of registered voters are Democratic, compared to 29% Republican and 22% with no party preference.

But the Central Valley is more purple than the deep blue counties around the Bay Area and Los Angeles, and conservative Democrats in the region often cross party lines to elect Republicans.

The 2024 race was a rematch of the 2022 race, when Duarte beat Gray by 564 votes, the second-largest margin in the country.

This year, Duarte campaigned on lowering gasoline prices and the cost of living. Duarte, whose family owns a large farm in the San Joaquin Valley, portrayed himself to voters as a moderate Republican, saying he had bucked his party on abortion and immigration and instead stuck to mediocre policy proposals.

Gray described himself as a “radical centrist” and pointed to his decade in the state Assembly as evidence that he could work across party lines. In August, he told the Times that he had decided to run against Duarte again because he felt the incumbent and Republicans in Congress had accomplished little to help ordinary Americans.

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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.