Holding a surprisingly large lead on election night, Nicole Malliotakis declared victory over Max Rose in their bitter race for Congress on Staten Island. 

“We have returned the 11th Congressional District to Republican hands,” Nicole Malliotakis told a crowd of her supporters late Tuesday night.

Rose, the Democratic incumbent, has not conceded, citing that at least 40,000 absentee ballots still need to be counted. Rose did, however, acknowledge that the math may not be in his favor.

Widely considered the city’s only competitive local race, it was as ugly as it was contentious. 

In brutal ads that could be seen all over the airwaves and social media, Malliotakis and Rose sparred over law enforcement and the Black Lives Matter movement. 

Malliotakis sought to align Rose with Mayor de Blasio, an unpopular figure on Staten Island.

Despite expectations for near deadlock numbers, Malliotakis was ahead by some 35,000 votes on election night.

Those 40,000 absentee ballots, by law, cannot be opened until next week.

Malliotakis said she's not concerned that Rose did not concede, that she’s comfortable with her lead, and is looking forward to becoming a representative in Congress.