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U.S. Rep. Ron Barber is holding onto his slight lead in his 2nd Congressional District race against Republican Martha McSally even as all the ballots in GOP-heavy Cochise County have been counted. Barber had a 709 vote lead as vote-counting resumed in Pima County early Thursday. The race remains too close to call.

An agreement reached Tuesday at least temporarily resolves a dispute over 130 provisional ballots that could prove decisive in Arizona's last undecided congressional race.

The outcome of southern Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District back-and-forth campaign for the lead between Democratic U.S. Rep. Ron Barber and Republican challenger Martha McSally will decide whether Arizona chooses a Democratic or Republican congressional majority.

Today, a full six days after the election, the race had still not been called for either candidate. Barber was leading by 698 votes, or about .25 percentage points.

Southern Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District provided one of the biggest surprises of Election Night, and the following days, as the lead for Democratic U.S. Rep. Ron Barber and Republican challenger Martha McSally went back and forth with razor thin margins.

When Democratic U.S. Rep. Ron Barber won a slam-dunk special election in June against the same opponent who almost defeated his predecessor and boss, former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, many political consultants chalked it up to the “Gabby Effect.”

Ron Barber had no competition last spring in a special primary election to replace his old boss, former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, until her term expired. He then went on to decisively beat a tea party Republican who had nearly unseated Giffords from her southern Arizona district in 2010.

The frontrunners for the upcoming primary in Arizona’s 2nd Congressional District appear to have little to worry about, if fundraising is any indication.

Fresh off his victory in the special election, Arizona’s newest congressman will have plenty of money to defend his seat after raising nearly $333,000 last quarter.

New voter registration figures show that although both major parties continue to lose numbers to independent voters, some of the most competitive upcoming elections may favor Republican candidates more than previously thought.

The special election to fill the seat of former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is likely to cost Arizona taxpayers $3 million.