Former American Idol star Clay Aiken appears to have won the Democratic primary in North Carolina, but the election is so close that it’s still too early to call a winner.
Clay Aiken, who’s running for House of Representatives in the state’s 2nd district, is ahead of his competitor Keith Crisco with 369 votes, the tally from the Board of Elections shows.
While that lands the former singing star just above the threshold of the 40% that candidates must clear to avoid a runoff, it is not enough for him to declare victory, as provisional, absentee and military absentee ballots are still being tallied. The last votes will be counted Monday.
Keith Crisco issued a statement Wednesday saying that he isn’t ready to concede yet.
“This election is still very tight,” he wrote in the statement according to Washington Post.
“I want the elections officials to have an opportunity to tally the votes and provide a report … to allow all the campaigns a chance to see the final numbers.”
Whatever candidate wins the election will face an uphill battle in the general election this fall, as the right-leaning district has a history of sending Republican candidates to Congress.
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