Diaz-Balart Leads Florida District 26 by 1,704 Votes in NBC Projection
The Republican incumbent is projected to win the congressional seat with 114,578 votes, while his Democratic opponent trails by less than one percentage point.
By Aiko Soto ·
Republican incumbent Mario Diaz-Balart is projected to win the race for Florida's 26th Congressional District, according to an NBC News analysis released on Monday. The network counted 114,578 votes for Diaz-Balart, representing 49.9% of the total. His Democratic opponent, Nicole Locklin, received 112,874 votes, or 49.1%. The difference between the two candidates is 1,704 votes. Independent candidate Deborah Meidinger Hosey collected 2,352 votes, accounting for 1% of the tally. NBC News reported that a total of 229,804 ballots had been counted in the contest.
The race was tight on election day. With 99% of the expected vote tabulated, Diaz-Balart held a narrow lead over Locklin. At that point, Diaz-Balart had 114,547 votes and Locklin had 112,782. The gap stood at 1,765 votes. In Florida, an automatic machine recount is triggered if the margin between candidates is 0.5% or less. Diaz-Balart's provisional lead of approximately 0.77 percentage points placed him above that threshold, preventing an automatic recount.
The Florida Republican Party congratulated Diaz-Balart on his reelection on Wednesday. The party posted on X, stating, 'A well-deserved victory for Congressman Diaz-Balart! Congratulations on your reelection and for continuing to put Florida first.' Locklin has not conceded the race since the Monday projection. She posted on X that 'this race is not over.'
NBC News estimates that approximately 1,800 votes remain to be counted. For Locklin to reach or surpass Diaz-Balart, she would need to secure roughly 99.9% of those remaining ballots. Alina Garcia, the Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections, noted that some provisional ballots and mail-in ballots with signature issues are still being reviewed. Voters have a deadline to correct signature errors. Garcia said that based on current numbers, 'it is more than likely there will be no change.'
The district election concluded with a margin of less than one point. Diaz-Balart's victory was projected nearly one week after the election. The final count depends on the remaining provisional and corrected mail-in ballots. Garcia indicated that the process to verify these ballots is ongoing. No official certification has been issued yet. The outcome relies on the final tally of the disputed or pending votes.
