The race was one of the closest in the nation. McSally led on election night by a few hundred votes, but the race was deemed too close to call due to a large number of provisional ballots. Barber eventually overtook McSally as more ballots were counted. By November 16, most of the outstanding ballots were in heavily Democratic precincts near Tucson. "The Arizona Republic" determined that McSally would not be able to pick up enough votes to overcome Barber's lead. By November 17, Barber's lead had grown to 1,400 votes. That day, the Associated Press determined that there were not enough ballots outstanding for McSally to regain the lead and called the race for Barber. She conceded the race later that morning.