Rep. Tim Bishop has lost his early lead as local officials in New York’s 1st district recanvass voting machines following Tuesday’s election. The Democrat had been leading by 3,500 votes, but Suffolk County elections officials announced last night that challenger Randy Altschuler (R) now has a 392-vote lead.

Local press reported Saturday that there are more than 9,500 absentee ballots that must still be counted, and both campaigns issued statements saying they will wait until each vote is tallied.

Bishop spokesman Jon Schneider said in a statement that the county’s residents deserve “confidence in the integrity of the count,” according to the Sag Harbor Express. “At this point the only way to be sure of the accuracy of the count is to do a full hand recount of all the ballots,” Schneider said, adding that he thinks his boss will emerge the victor.

An Altschuler spokesman told the East Hampton Press that the Board of Elections told the campaign’s attorney late Friday about the new numbers.

Board spokesman Rob Ryan told the newspaper that the total came as elections officials finished downloading results from the electronic voting machines.

There are eight House races still outstanding. Those remaining uncalled by the Associated Press are Washington’s 2nd district, California’s 11th and 20th districts, Virginia’s 11th district, Kentucky’s 6th district, Illinois’ 8th district, New York’s 25th district, and Texas’ 27th district.

Rep. Solomon Ortiz (D-Texas), trailing by 800 in the initial vote counts, has asked for a manual recount.

Republicans have captured a net 60 seats in the House and six in the Senate.