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It's a nail-biter in 3rd Congressional race

caption: Republican U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, representing southwest Washington state's 3rd Congressional District, poses for a photo in Vancouver, Wash., Aug. 27, 2018.
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Republican U.S. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, representing southwest Washington state's 3rd Congressional District, poses for a photo in Vancouver, Wash., Aug. 27, 2018.
AP Photo/Don Ryan

Election officials were still tallying votes in southwest Washington's closely watched 3rd Congressional District, as of Friday evening.

Incumbent Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler, who voted to impeach Donald Trump last year, is battling to stay in the race. On Friday, she was trailing Democratic challenger Marie Gluesenkamp Perez by almost 16,000 votes. And she was barely holding her lead over Trump-backed Republican challenger Joe Kent.

The district's open primary means the top two vote-getters advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation. As of the final ballot drop on Friday, Herrera Beutler was just 257 votes ahead of Kent.

Tens of thousands of votes must still be counted.

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