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Republicans upbeat in the 9th district

Rocky Raczkowski, left, and Gary Peters
Rocky Raczkowski, left, and Gary Peters

The race for Oakland County's 9th Congressional district is one of the most closely-watched in the region, if not the nation. Freshman Gary Peters is trying to fend off Republican Andrew "Rocky" Raczkowski and hang on to this historically-Republican district for the Democrats.

The race is too close to call, and everyone expects it to go late into the night.

At Raczkowski headquarters in the Troy Marriott, the candidate came in to a standing ovation and a "Rocky! Rocky!" chant. The room is abuzz with news of Republican wins in Michigan and across the country--and early results that show Raczkowski topping Peters' in Peters home precinct.

Raczkowski, who has campaigned with Tea Party backing, thinks he'll pull out a win. But he says he'll be at peace with whatever happens.

“We’ve worked really hard, and we believe in something. We believe in freedom and not the direction our nation is headed in right now. So these people are energized and I’m energized as well. So we’ll wait…we’ll wait.”

Update from Camp Peters coming soon.

Mark Brush was the station's Digital Media Director. He succumbed to a year-long battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer, in March 2018. He was 49 years old.