U.S. Rep. Mike Kelly eked out a victory over challenger Ron DiNicola after trailing the Democrat for most of Tuesday night.

Voters in Erie County decidedly chose DiNicola, but Kelly won enough votes in the rest of the 16th Congressional District's four other counties to win.

Kelly earned about 51 percent of votes compared to about 47 percent won by DiNicola. Kelly earned about 156,000 votes compared to about 147,000 for DiNicola, according to unofficial totals posted online late Tuesday.

A car dealership owner and Butler native, Kelly currently represents all of Butler County in the 3rd Congressional District. But after the new U.S. House takes office, he will represent the bulk of its western half, along with all of Erie, Lawrence, Mercer and Crawford counties.

“It was a tough, tough race,” Kelly said Tuesday. “Right up the wire. We worked hard.”

In the city of Butler, Kelly and DiNicola posted neck-and-neck results. DiNicola won two of six precincts, and all six were within just a few percentage points.

The same was not true for the remainder of Butler County. In several districts, Kelly won well over 60 percent of the vote.

Early Tuesday night DiNicola looked strong as Erie County votes were tallied. DiNicola won about 60 percent of votes cast in Erie County.

Those early returns developed a tense room at Kelly's election watch party at the Day's Inn in Butler.

Bruce Craig sat under a big screen, eyes straining every time the race's results flashed onto the screen.

“It seems like it might be one of those ones that are so close in the end there might be a recount,” Craig said.

Craig said DiNicola was benefiting from a mass of Democrats turning out in reaction to Donald Trump's presidency.

The waiting all came down to Lawrence County. That county released all its results toward the end of the night, flipping a final few percentage points from DiNicola's hands.

“You do the best you can do, and then you put it in the Lord's hands,” Kelly said.

At polls Tuesday evening, Butler voters found reasons to support both candidates.

Brian Dietz, 35, of Butler voted for Kelly while wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat.

“I went Republican,” Dietz said. “I feel like Republicans are closer to my values, I guess.”

Dietz seemed more interested in voting for the GOP than Kelly in particular.

“I don't know either one,” Dietz said. “I don't know much about them, I guess.”

He didn't cast a straight Republican ballot though, he said, as he felt state Rep. Brian Ellis has been in office for too long.

Fixing ObamaCare, or the Affordable Care Act, and immigration were the most important issues to Dietz in this election, he said.

Elizabeth Herman of Butler said she cast her ballot for DiNicola.

“I like Mike Kelly,” Herman said. “My son went to school with Mike's son. I'm just done with Republicans. I hate Trump. Well, I shouldn't say I hate him, but I hate what he does. He lies.”

She picked Democrats across the board, she said. Though she isn't too fond of any politicians.

“I think they're all acting like little boys that need to be spanked on their butts and start acting like adults,” Herman said. “And that's no matter which side of the aisle you're on.”

On Kelly's race in particular, Herman wasn't impressed with an advertisement run against DiNicola that attacked the Erie attorney for clients he previously represented in California.

“I thought, he's a defense attorney,” Herman said. “That's his job. Everyone is entitled to a defense.”

Jim Brink, a self-described Republican, cast votes for some Democrats at the Unionville Fire Hall in Center Township. His ballot included a vote for DiNicola.

“I think he's the better candidate,” Brink said. “Kelly has been in there too long.”

Brink said he's an employee of the state of Pennsylvania, which motivated him to vote Democrat for some state-level positions such as for governor.

Gov. Tom Wolf, he said, offered more protection for such employees than Scott Wagner. DiNicola, he believes, has average people more in mind than Kelly.

“I think that Kelly is there for big business,” Brink said.

But at the same polling location, Amber Allday, 20, of Butler, picked Kelly for a simple reason.

“I support Trump,” Allday said. “I like his values. I want more Republicans in the House.”

Abortion issues and Second Amendment rights motivated her toward the Republican candidate, she said. But Kelly's ongoing support of the president was a clear positive for her, she said.

Tom Qualtere, Kelly's communications director said during Kelly's watch party that some in their team were thinking that Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Wagner brought down enthusiasm throughout the district, explaining the closeness of the race.

Moments later, Qualtere hustled into the room to explain that DiNicola had called to concede the race to Kelly.

Kelly said he and DiNicola had arranged to have lunch soon and discuss their race and the issues facing their district.

“He's got some good ideas I want to work with him on,” Kelly said. “It was a tough race.”

DiNicola said his conversation with Kelly was cordial and that Kelly was gracious to him.

“I think we ran a good race and a very competitive race,” DiNicola said. “I congratulate Mr. Kelly on his victory, a hard fought victory. We feel good about the race we ran.”

During the campaign, he frequently said he was looking forward to working with Trump and Republicans, as opposed to fighting them. Kelly ended his night calling for similar unity.

“I'd like to see the nastiness get toned down,” Kelly said. “There's too much hate. I don't understand it. I look at what we've accomplished in the last 22 months, and I don't understand it. Some people are so filled with hate they can't think straight.”