MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. _ Democrat Andy Kim took the lead over U.S. Rep. Tom MacArthur in the hotly contested Third District Congressional race after Burlington County counted vote by mail ballots late Wednesday afternoon.
New totals showed Kim with 101,903 votes in Burlington County, an increase of 14,487 over previous totals.
MacArthur's totals also increased, but by 9,550.
That disparity was enough for Kim to overtake the election night advantage of about 2,300 votes that MacArthur had when the two-term Republican congressman left without addressing supporters gathered at his Toms River headquarters.
By contrast, Kim took the state early Wednesday morning and told supporters, "We can win this thing."
There were still provisional ballots to be counted, but county officials did not expect those numbers to significantly change the margins.
A victory by Kim in this suburban New Jersey district would be a significant win for Democrats, toppling the incumbent MacArthur, the only New Jersey congressman to vote yes on the tax bill, and a key architect of the ultimately failed Republican attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act.
Three other Republican-held house seats in New Jersey fell Tuesday night.
The updated vote totals from Burlington County give Kim about a 2,600 vote lead when combined with the Ocean County results, out of about 295,500 votes tallied in the district.
There was no immediate comment from either the Kim or the MacArthur campaign on the new numbers.
