After refusing to concede the race until after the state certified the election results, Democrat Paul Carmouche acknowledged Wednesday afternoon that he had fallen short in his bid to win the battleground 4th district seat of retiring Rep. Jim McCrery (R).

According to official results from Saturday’s contest, Republican John Fleming won the seat by just 350 votes.

“Of more than 92,000 votes cast throughout the 13 parishes of this district, it appears that our campaign has fallen slightly short,” said Carmouche, who served for 30 years as Caddo Parish district attorney before making his Congressional bid. “I will not ask for a recount of any of the paper ballots, and I offer my warmest congratulations to Dr. Fleming.”

On election night Saturday, Carmouche indicated he would retire from his district attorney job regardless of what the final outcome of the race was.

“It has been the highest honor to serve as the Caddo Parish District Attorney for the past three decades and I look forward to exploring ways in which I may be of continued service to this great community,” Carmouche said in a statement Wednesday.

Over the past four days, national GOP officials had been anxious for Carmouche to concede the race. When local media reported that Carmouche might consider asking for a recount, the National Republican Congressional Committee and Republican National Committee both rushed out news releases Wednesday slamming such a move.

After Carmouche finally conceded, NRCC spokesman Ken Spain released a statement saying “the voters’ decision has been made official and we are excited that Congressman-elect Fleming will be joining the ranks of the Republican Conference.”