Democratic Rep. Ron Barber Ronald (Ron) Sylvester BarberKavanaugh nomination a make or break moment to repeal Citizens United Latina Leaders to Watch 2018 Principles and actions mean more than Jeff Flake’s words MORE has won a full term in Arizona's 2nd District after narrowly defeating Republican Martha McSally, the Associated Press said Saturday.

Barber was the district director for Democratic Rep. Gabby Giffords and was wounded in the mass shooting in 2011 that killed six people and seriously injured the congresswoman. Giffords stepped down earlier this year to focus on her recovery.

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Giffords endorsed Barber, who won a special election in June to fill the remainder of her term.

His bid for a full term, however, proved to be excruciatingly close. Both Barber and McSally held leads after election night and, by late Friday, Barber had a 1,402-vote margin with more than 285,000 votes cast in the race.

The AP determined that with only 15,000 provisional ballots left to be counted in Pima County, McSally would be unable to overcome Barber's lead.

Barber touted his centrist positions and support for veterans. McSally, a former Air Force pilot who was making her first run for political office, called for shrinking the federal government and repealing President Obama's healthcare law.

Democrats now hold a majority of Arizona's House seats.

Update: Barber declared victory at a press conference in Tucson on Saturday afternoon. He said McSally called him earlier in the day to offer her congratulations.

"As I have always said, I honor Ms. McSally’s service to our country and appreciate the debate we had in this election over what is important to Southern Arizona," Barber said.

He said that with the campaign over, he is eager to get back to work.

"Congress has important decisions to make, and we must seek compromise and bipartisanship in order to get things done," he said.

--This report was originally posted at 12:28 p.m. and last updated at 6:17 p.m.