OKEECHOBEE- U.S. Rep. Darren Soto held a razor-thin lead over Republican Dan Green on Wednesday morning in Florida's newly redrawn 9th Congressional District, a seat Republicans reshaped this year to unseat him. Rep Soto leads with 143,174 votes, while Green trails with 141,697 votes.

 The Associated Press had not called the race as of the morning of Nov. 4, and the margin sits close enough to Florida's 0.5% threshold that a machine recount remains possible.

Locally Republican Dan Green carried Okeechobee County with 68.47% of the vote over Democratic U.S. Rep. Darren Soto, who received 31.53%. But Rep. Soto earned more votes from the district overall.

Soto has claimed victory. In a statement, he said he wanted to "commend my opponent, Dan Green, on a hard-fought race," and thanked Green for his service. Green is a Vero Beach Republican and former Pentagon official.

This is the first election in which Okeechobee County voted in District 9. Under the congressional map Gov. Ron DeSantis proposed on April 27, Okeechobee and Glades counties moved out of the 18th District, represented by Republican Scott Franklin, and into the 9th, represented by Soto.

Okeechobee had shared District 18 with Polk, Highlands, DeSoto, Hardee and Hendry counties. The new District 9 groups it with Glades, Osceola, Indian River and Hendry counties and parts of Orlando.

U.S. Rep. Soto would be the first Democrat to represent Okeechobee’s district since Tim Mahoney in 2009.

Mahoney won the seat in 2006 after the Mark Foley scandal. Foley resigned too late under Florida law to have his name removed from the ballot, and Mahoney narrowly won with 49.55% to 47.66% for Foley (with votes going to Joe Negron). Two years later he lost reelection to Republican Tom Rooney, 209,847 (60.10%) to 139,329 (39.90%). Republicans have held Okeechobee’s seat ever since: Rooney, then Greg Steube in the redrawn 17th District, and currently Scott Franklin in the 18th District.

Forecasters rated Soto the most vulnerable Democrat in Florida's delegation following the redistricting effort to get more Republican seats. Sabato's Crystal Ball and Cook Political Report had the seat at Likely Republican but in the final week Cook moved it to Lean Republican and Decision Desk called it a tossup.