For now, roughly 3,000 votes stand in the way of regular trips to Washington D.C. over the next two years, but it won't keep Democrat Nate McMurray from taking the trek this week.

"This race isn't over yet and if things break our way, we need to be ready," McMurray said. “I want to be ready so I'm going down to learn everything I can so I can be prepared to represent the people of this region."

He said he's one of a handful of Democratic candidates from across the country invited to congressional orientation, even as their races remain too close to call. Some of them face even larger deficits than his, he said.

"Several of the, hopefully, my potential colleagues in Congress called me and said we'd like to have you come down and chat with us and they're hopeful that we have a good result when all the votes are finally counted," McMurray said.

Regardless, he said it's a good indicator his potential colleagues continue to take New York's 27th Congressional District race seriously.

"They would not have asked me to come unless they believed in me and I'm grateful for those who do still believe in me," McMurray said.

Incumbent Republican Chris Collins said the majority of absentee ballot requests came from Republicans and simple math says the race is over. However, McMurray expects most of the absentees to come from Erie County, where his campaign won.

"I mean, remember, there are thousands and thousands of votes that haven't been counted," he said. "Now they could all go for my opponent. They literally all could go for me. We don't know what the votes are."

The candidate said he has not had discussions with national Democrats or attorneys about whether to challenge any ballots after all the absentee ballots have been counted.

"If we go to more formal legal proceedings later, we will need some help,” he explained. “It's going to be an expensive process. You know that they're going to lawyer up and we're going to have to do the same."

McMurray said the next big event is next Tuesday, when the Erie County Board of Elections counts its absentee ballots.