Rep. Salud Carbajal took a strong and early lead in the 24th Congressional District race on Election Night.
Two-term incumbent Carbajal, a Democrat, was facing first-time nominee and conservative radio show host Andy Caldwell in this year's general election.
As of 9 p.m., Carbajal had 63% of the vote to Caldwell's nearly 37%.
"Obviously, we're very hopeful and it's a good margin that I'm leading by and I'm just very thankful to the residents of the Central Coast, the voters who have voted for me and have put their confidence in my continuing to represent them in Washington, represent our priorities," Carbajal said Tuesday night.
"It was not very encouraging," Caldwell said of the initial results. "We hope to do better. We do believe that our numbers will go up as a result of the votes that have not yet been counted but we do not know if we can close that gap."
Click here for updated election results throughout the evening.
