After four days of vote counting put incumbent Republican Rep. J.D. Hayworth even further ahead, his opponent finally conceded defeat Saturday.
"I came very close to unseating a member of Congress," Democrat Steve Owens said. "And no matter what the final vote count is, Congressman Hayworth will have won by a slim margin."Hayworth claimed victory on election night after early returns showed him with a big lead. He led by just 590 votes Thursday but stretched the lead to 1,192 on Friday.
An estimated 6,000 ballots were still uncounted in Republican-dominated Maricopa County.
Owens said he decided to concede after seeing the last votes come in from the district's rural areas, where he had hoped for support.