Yesterday the Associated Press finally called the race in California’s 13th district.

BREAKING: Republican John Duarte wins election to U.S. House in California's 13th Congressional District. #APracecall at 7:06 p.m. PST. https://t.co/2nlgpji7ac

— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) December 3, 2022

The LA Times reports the race, which currently has Duarte winning by 565 votes, was a pretty civil affair between Duarte and Democrat Adam Gray who ran as a centrist in a district where Democrats had a double digit registration advantage.

No incumbent chose to run in California’s heavily agricultural 13th Congressional District, adjusted in the decennial redrawing of maps to include all of Merced County and parts of several others. Democrats have a 14.3-percentage-point voter registration edge, but low turnout among Democrats and Latinos — who make up just over 50% of the population that is eligible to vote — as well as the independent nature of politics in the region have made races unpredictable here…

Gray, who was elected to the Assembly in 2012, called himself a “radical centrist” who worked across party lines…

Both men were asked to say something nice about their rival during a recent debate.

Gray called Duarte “a friendly guy” whose “heart is in the right place.”

Duarte said Gray was “a respectable, pleasant guy” who was sincere and has “worked hard for the community.”

That brings the GOP tally in the House to 221 seats with just one seat left to call. That’s the seat held by Rep. Lauren Boebert. Boebert has been leading the race by 550 votes but that’s close enough that a state-mandated recount kicks in. But as Ed pointed out two weeks ago, this is essentially over because her opponent Adam Frisch has already conceded.

“The likelihood of this recount changing more than a handful of votes is very very small. It would be disingenuous and unethical of us or any other group to continue to raise false hope and encourage fundraising for a recount. Colorado elections are safe, accurate and secure. Please save your money for your groceries, your rent, your children and other important causes and organizations,” Frisch said.

“I just got off the phone with Representative Boebert to formally concede this election,” Frisch shared.

He’s correct of course. If the difference were 50 votes it might be worth holding out to see what happens but something extremely unusual would have to happen to erase a lead of 550 votes. Nevertheless, the state ordered the recount to go forward this week:

Colorado’s secretary of state announced Wednesday that the race between incumbent Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert and Democrat Adam Frisch in the 3rd Congressional District is headed to a mandatory recount.

Boebert led Frisch by 550 votes in last month’s midterm election. Colorado law mandates that when the margin between two candidates is within 0.5% of the winner’s vote tally, a recount has to take place.

The process must be completed by Dec. 13, Secretary of State Jena Griswold (D) said.

So we’ll have the result a week from Tuesday at the latest. I actually expect this could go a bit quicker given that there’s no other counting happening in the state right now.

The bottom line is that the GOP will have 222 seats and the Dems will have 213.