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PHOENIX (AP) - The hand-picked successor to former Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is now nearly even with his Republican 2nd Congressional District challenger as votes continue to be tallied from Tuesday's election.

Democrat Ron Barber trailed Republican Martha McSally by just 81 votes early Friday.

Both Republicans and Democrats believe they'll win the race in the end as votes from Cochise and Pima counties are added. Cochise County has about 11,000 votes yet to count and all of them are in the 2nd District. Pima has about 82,000 votes to count, but it's not known how many are in 2nd District.

The lead for Democrat Kyrsten Sinema in the race to fill the Phoenix-area's new 9th Congressional District widened Friday. Republican Vernon Parker is trailing by more than 3,800 votes.