Nicole Malliotakis, Max Rose Clash Over Victory Call

Updated 12:34 a.m.

NEW YORK CITY — The most-contested New York City congressional race between a Democrat and Republican ended with the challenger declaring victory and the incumbent calling for patience.

Republican Nicole Malliotakis declared victory over incumbent Democrat Max Rose as she pulled ahead. She had 57.73 percent of the vote counted so far, but election projections had yet to call the race as of early Wednesday.

A visibly-emotional Rose didn't concede. He said 40,000 absentee ballots had yet to be counted, with as many as 10,000 more potentially in the mail.

"As a soldier who fought for our democracy, I believe every vote should be counted," he said.

Votes are still being counted, not counting absentee ballots that will be tallied later.

The race unfolded in Staten Island and southern Brooklyn, where Rose looked to fend off Malliotakis, a former mayoral candidate and current State Assembly Member.

Rose, a veteran, staked much of his campaign on dissing and distancing himself from his fellow Democrat Mayor Bill de Blasio.

“Bill de Blasio is the worst mayor in the history of New York City,” he said in the opening of a 15-second viral ad, before pausing. “That’s it guys. Seriously, that’s the whole ad.”

The ad outlined Rose’s unique position — a Democrat representing a largely-conservative borough fed up from the beginning with the de Blasio administration. Rose hoped to parlay his willingness to stand up to his own party into a second term, while Malliotakis offered a familiar message to Staten Island conservatives — an endorsement from Trump himself, a promise to “drain the swamp” and an unabashedly a pro-police stance.

“NYC stores are boarding up and NYPD is preparing for civil unrest,” she tweeted in the run up to the election. “Anarchy is a threat to our democracy and cannot be tolerated. On Tuesday, Vote for Law & Order. Vote for those who support our law enforcement.”