It’s not over til it’s over.

The crowded Democratic race for the 13th Congressional District seat did not appear to go for the frontrunner, Assemblyman Keith Wright, but to his lead opponent, state Senator Adriano Espaillat. But Wright told supporters he’s not ready to concede until “every vote is counted.”

He also called on the Justice Department to examine the vote count process following news reports of voter irregularities in pockets of the district, which extends into the Norwood section of the Bronx following redistricting in 2012. Voters have long complained the borough, which makes up 20 percent of the district, was ignored by the incumbent, Charles Rangel, who represented the district for 46 years, with the last four covering a sliver of the Bronx.

“No candidate gets to declare victory tonight, not until every vote is counted.” said Wright, speaking to supporters in a balmy auditorium in Harlem. “Stay tuned.”

For Espaillat, whose run for the seat was his third, took a victory lap at the 908 lounge in the Inwood section of Manhattan, a neighborhood he represents on the state level. Espaillat, who also demanded a ballot count as he’s called on in previous races, though he told supporters “we are confident that at the end of the night we will be up.”

Preliminary results showed Espaillat clinging to victory by a less than three percentage points over Wright with 99 percent of precincts reporting. Numbers show that while Wright grabbed 34.0 percent of the vote, Espaillat secured 36.8 percent of the vote. Clyde Williams came in a distant third, with 10.9 percent, according to preliminary tallies. The other five candidates–Adam Clayton Powell IV, Guillermo Linares, Suzan Johnson-Cook, Mike Gallagher, Sam Sloan, and Yohanny Caceres–held single digit percentage votes.

The race finally saw a different legislator on the seat long held by Charles Rangel, thanks to a powerful black voting bloc that kept Rangel, who is African American, in the seat for 46 years. Rangel’s endorsement of Wright didn’t seem enough to secure a win, an indicator of the erosion of the Harlem voting bloc that’s now shifted toward Hispanics in neighboring Washington Heights and Inwood. Espaillat’s presumed victory would mark the first a Dominican-born legislator will be in Congress.

Wright’s loss dealt a huge blow to the clout of the Bronx Democratic County Committee (BDCC), who endorsed him over Espaillat following what sources told the Norwood News was part of a backroom deal to have Wright relinquish his run for Assembly Speaker. That position is now held by Assemblyman Carl Heastie.

Crespo, who appeared at the event along with other Bronx legislators, was unavailable for comment.

With the district overwhelmingly Democratic, the primary often represents the outcome in the general election.