Editor's note: This story was updated at about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday to include more detailed information on the district-wide vote count.

Westport Democrat Steve Ouellette squeezed out the narrowest of victories in the 8th Bristol Representative District race Tuesday, skating past what he called “a red wave that flowed through Westport” to claim the seat vacated by former Rep. Paul Schmid.

With mail ballots still to be counted in Westport and the district’s other four communities of Acushnet, Freetown, New Bedford and Fall River, the Westport Select Board member received 7,290 votes, less than 1 percent more than his closest challenger, Westport Republican Christopher Thrasher, who secured 7,147.

“I’m a little surprised because if you look at the results, the red wave flowed right through Westport,” Ouellette said. “I appreciate that the voters had faith in me.”

Ouellette, a member of the Select Board who has long championed infrastructure projects, job creation and economic revitalization along the Route 6 corridor and elsewhere in Southeastern Massachusetts, had a deep well of support in Westport.

Though he was up until early Wednesday morning watching the numbers come in, Ouellette was back at work bright and early later Wednesday morning.

“We’ll see what happens,” he said. “I’m excited to get started and I’m psyched to work with Mark (Sylvia, 10th district, from New Bedford).”

What about select board?

Ouellette said Wednesday morning that while he doesn’t believe there are any prohibitions to him serving as both 8th Bristol Rep and on the select board, he plans to relinquish his seat on the board — hopefully continuing his service until the Spring town elections, so Westport does not have to incur the cost of holding a special election to fill his vacant seat.

“Worst case scenario, I stay on until the next election,” he said. “But I’ll look into ethics and all that good stuff to see what it says.”

Moving forward in his district role, Ouellette said one of the most important things to do will be to watch the numbers coming out of Washington, following the election of Donald Trump to his second term as president Tuesday.

“Weve got to find out if we’re going to be punished for not being red enough or not, and then looking at the issues at home — keep people working, making sure the turbines are built properly. There’s a lot to do.”

Thrasher responds

Tuesday morning, Thrasher said he was disappointed, but said he has no regrets over the way election night went:

“In the span of two months, we went from a successful write-in campaign to coming within 143 votes on election night. That’s a pretty good run, and I am beyond thankful for the tremendous support I received.”

While all outstanding votes are being counted, I remain steadfast in my belief that the issues we presented in this campaign must be confronted and urgently addressed, no matter what the outcome.

Though a red wave did indeed flow through Westport and Trump won the presidential race handily, Ouellette fared well, earning the highest vote total in town.

According to preliminary numbers released early Wednesday by officials in Westport, Acushnet, Freetown, Fall River and New Bedford, the results are:

• Steve Ouellette: 7,290 votes (33.5 percent)

• Christopher Thrasher: 7,147 votes (32.9 percent)

• Jesse St. Gelais: 4,178 votes (19.2 percent)

• Manuel Soares Jr.: 1,961 votes (9 percent)

• Laura Hadley: 1,141 votes (5.2 percent)

Takeaways

• Ouellette was the top vote earner in New Bedford, Fall River and Westport.

• St. Gelais won the vote in Acushnet, his home town.

• Thrasher carried Freetown.

• Hadley was the lowest vote getter in her home town of Westport, earning 536 total — about 33 percent less in the town than St. Gelais.

Other Westport results

• Donald Trump won the presidential race in Westport, claiming 5,577 votes to Kamala Harris' 4,837.

• Republican John Deaton beat Democrat Elizabeth Warren for the United States Senate seat, claiming 5,628 votes to Warren's 4,702.

• Republican Dan Sullivan likewise beat incumbent Rep. Bill Keating, earning 5,154 votes in Westport to Keating's 4,881 in the 9th Congressional District race.

Westport Town Clerk Kristin Stinson cautioned along with her counterparts in the other four towns that results are still unofficial, and do not include overseas/military voters or total hand-counted votes. Officials said it could be next Tuesday before final certified numbers are completed.