As I noted in my piece yesterday, Republican candidate for California’s 16th congressional district and third-generation dairy farmer Johnny Tacherra held a 741-vote lead over longtime Democratic lawmaker Jim Costa in a race that has surprised many political observers. As of this morning, with officials in three counties counting provisional ballots, Costa has taken an ever-so-slight edge.

Fresno County officials announced on Wednesday evening that Costa picked up 1,708 votes to Tacherra’s 881, giving the Democrat an 86-vote lead, according to a local newspaper. The county said there are still 10,100 provisional ballots, and 600 mail-in ballots, to be counted, but it is unclear how many of those are for the 16th district, or for elections for other three congressional districts within the county.

Observers on the ground tell National Review Online that Fresno County is the district’s Democratic stronghold, while its others two counties — Madera and Merced — lean Republican. In Madera County, 722 ballots remain, while in Merced, there are 1,505 left.

Madera and Merced counties will not provide an update on the race until all their respective ballots have been counted, which is expected to be by the end of the week or early next week. Fresno County will update the public on Friday.