U.S. Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Miami. said Wednesday he won his re-election to Congress representing Florida's 26th congressional district, defeating Democrat Nicole Locklin and a third candidate with no-party-affiliation in a race far closer than expected on Election Night.
However, election officials in Miami-Dade and Broward counties said a final tally may not be done before Friday.
The Associated Press has not called the race. "AP only calls a race when we are fully confident that race has been won — defined most simply as the moment the trailing candidates no longer have a path to victory," the global news agency reports on its website.
In a statement, Diaz-Balart said the Supervisors of Elections in Miami-Dade and Broward counties "report that 100 percent of their precincts have been fully and completely reported."
"Results are available for anybody to see in black and white: this race is over," the longtime congressman said.
He added that "there are no outstanding votes remaining in District 26 — let alone enough to overcome" his lead in the race.
Locklin, however, has not conceded to Diaz-Balart, posting on X: "This race isn't over."
She posted an unofficial vote tally showing her with a slight lead over Diaz-Balart on Wednesday.
This race isn't over. pic.twitter.com/YFowFMvg5M
— Nicole Locklin | FL-26 (@locklin2026) November 4, 2026
The Florida Division of Elections website on Wednesday afternoon showed Diaz-Balart leading the field with 114,547 votes (49.87%), Locklin with 112,775 votes (49.1%) and Deborah Ann Meidinger Hosey, the NPA candidate, with 2,348 votes (1.02%).
The newly redrawn district includes Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
READ MORE: 2026 elections: Who won their race to represent South Florida in Congress. Nine seats up for grabs
Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Alina Garcia told reporters on Wednesday during a news conference that there are still some provisional ballots that need to be reviewed and counted, as well as some mail-in ballots with signature issues that voters have until Thursday to fix.
But, she said, the official voting numbers have Diaz-Balart up beyond the 0.5% spread that would require a mandatory recount.
"Even though there are still some ballots that are outstanding, more than likely there will be no change," Garcia said.
Calling the race
In his statement, Diaz-Balart argues that the race has "inexplicably not yet been called" in his favor by the Associated Press or other major or local news organizations.
Diaz-Balart said there were 3,000 votes "suddenly and unilaterally" added to Locklin's total votes and zero votes added to his totals that has caused apparent confusion.
"These 3,000 votes, as reported only by news media outlets, briefly placed Diaz-Balart’s opponent narrowly ahead in news media tabulations," said Diaz-Balart, who did not name the media outlets.
"Minutes later," he said, "the vote totals were corrected" showing Diaz-Balart leading the race.
"Most importantly, these 3,000 votes never appeared in the official election results of Miami-Dade County, Broward County, or the State of Florida," said Diaz-Balart.
Asked about the 3,000 votes, Garcia, the Miami-Dade elections supervisor, referred questions to Broward elections officials.
" It is my understanding that that was in Broward, that that was not in Miami-Dade County," Garcia said.
Reached via email by WLRN, Joe Scott, the Broward County Supervisor of Elections, said the Broward County Canvassing Board will meet at 9 a.m. on Friday to review outstanding provisional ballots and cure affidavits for Vote-by-Mail ballots that have yet to be counted.
Ballots the Board determines are eligible will be counted, Scott told WLRN. He did not indicate how many ballots could be reviewed.
He said certification of the election will take place on Nov. 16.
