Bacon told the Examiner that he was encouraged by the results but that there were more votes to count. His campaign manager, Matthew Zacher, told a gathering of Republicans that Bacon hoped to talk about the race on Wednesday.

Zacher said he was “cautiously optimistic” that Bacon would beat Vargas, a Democrat.

Vargas urged his followers in a statement to be patient. He said the last few years have taught Americans that counting votes takes time — and that accurate results are worth it.

“Our democracy is worth waiting for, and we must be patient until all the work of counting votes is completed,” Vargas said. “We feel very good about where we are and after all the votes are counted, we are confident we will win this race.”

The early votes returned Tuesday are unlikely to deviate significantly from overall early voting trends that favored Vargas. A similar trend could narrow the gap. Others said these early votes could impact West Omaha and help Bacon.

All three county election commissioners in the 2nd Congressional District still have at least some votes to count, but none have more than Douglas County, home to Omaha and the county’s largest share of Democrats.