UPDATE: Ayotte Concedes NH Senate Race

UPDATE, 4:58 p.m. on Nov. 9, 2016: U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte released the following statement regarding the results of the New Hampshire Senate race:

“I just spoke with Governor Hassan to congratulate her on her election to serve in the U.S. Senate. I wish Governor Hassan, her husband Tom, and their children Ben and Meg the very best. I also want to thank my family – my husband Joe and our two children, Kate and Jake. I could not serve New Hampshire without their support. I want to thank our family, friends, supporters, and volunteers who worked their hearts out for our campaign. I could never fully express how grateful and humbled I am by the outpouring of support our campaign has received since day one. “It has been a tremendous privilege to serve New Hampshire in the Senate and to make progress on addressing our heroin epidemic, making it easier for our small businesses to create good paying jobs, and supporting those who keep us safe in a dangerous world. “This is a critical time for New Hampshire and our country, and now more than ever, we need to work together to address our challenges. The voters have spoken and now it’s time all of us to come together to get things done for the people of the Greatest State in this Nation and for the Greatest Country on Earth. “I want to thank the people of New Hampshire for their support, encouragement, and friendship over the past six years, and for the tremendous honor of serving as their voice in the Senate.”

UPDATE, 3:46 p.m. on Nov. 9, 2016: The state has certified the results showing Hassan with a 1,023 vote lead. Maggie for NH Campaign Manager Marc Goldberg stated that the certification shows that Hassan will be the next Senator.

“Maggie Hassan will bring the bipartisan approach that she’s taken as Governor to the United States Senate to take on corporate special interests and expand opportunity for hard-working New Hampshire families and small businesses. Maggie will work to encourage innovation, make college more affordable, safeguard Social Security and Medicare, and protect every woman’s right to make her own health care decisions.“As Senator, she will always put the people of New Hampshire first. And she will work to heal the divisions this election has exposed, and fight to build a future where all Granite Staters are included in our shared economic success.”

The original story is below.

CONCORD, NH — Gov. Maggie Hassan, D-NH, has formally declared victory over incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Ayotte even though the vote spread is within an automatic state recount of the balloting, according to press statements. With 99 percent of the precincts counted, Hassan is holding onto a 692 vote lead over the incumbent, 353,340 to 352,648.

Former Republican turned independent Aaron Day, who targeted Ayotte for her bipartisan votes in the Senate, including the confirmation of Attorney General Loretta Lynch, earned more than 17,500 votes, or about 2 percent, while Libertarian Brian Chabot received nearly 13,000 votes.

Three illegal mailers were also sent around the state of New Hampshire the week before the election targeting Ayotte for abandoning the now-president-elect Donald Trump, as well as false statements about supporting Democrats in the Senate on gun control bills.

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“As we’ve gotten more results overnight and this morning, it’s clear that we have maintained the lead and have won this race,” Hassan said in a statement. “This morning, there are only a few small towns left outstanding and I hope these remaining votes are quickly recorded. When they are, we are confident that our margins are large enough that we will maintain a lead. It is clear that we have won, and I am proud to stand here as the next U.S. Senator from New Hampshire.”

Ayotte’s campaign, however, refused to concede the race.

"This has been a closely contested race from the beginning and we look forward to results being announced by the Secretary of State, and ensuring that every vote is counted in this race that has received an historic level of interest,” according to Liz Johnson, a spokeswoman for Kelly for New Hampshire.

Day, in a statement to Patch, thanked the more than 17,000 voters who voted for him in the final election surmising that his mission in the race – stopping Ayotte – had been accomplished, calling them "significant enough" to guarantee she was not re-elected.

"Yesterday, the people voted to go after the corruption that has infected our government at all levels," he said. "We are draining the swamp in D.C. and New Hampshire. After winning by over 20 points in 2010, the voters sent Ayotte a strong message that they reject her cronyism and meddling inappropriately in other races for the purpose of her own career advancement."

While the presidential race has already been decided nationally, the results in New Hampshire are so close – about 1,300 votes separates Trump and Hillary Clinton, the Democrat’s nominee – a recount may be performed anyway, in order to ensure the final results are what they are. Recounts in New Hampshire only occur when initiated by a candidate or the public.