Lehigh County Controller Mark Pinsley declared victory late Tuesday in his race against incumbent Republican Sen. Jarrett Coleman, a contest that was poised to flip one of four seats in the chamber for Democrats.

Just after midnight, Pinsley continued to hold a slight edge over Coleman, with about 95% of the vote counted, according to the Associated Press, which had not yet called the race. Pinsley had 51.1% of the vote to Coleman’s 48.9% — about a 3,000-vote difference.

Polls leading up to Election Day showed voters were almost evenly split between the two candidates.

Pinsley declared victory after midnight.

“This victory belongs to the people of Lehigh and Bucks County,” Pinsley said in a statement. “Thank you for placing your trust in me and believing that positive change is still possible, and thank you to my team that put everything into this race, my family that supported the campaign, and everyone who cast a ballot for our vision. I promise I will work hard every day in Harrisburg to ensure our government serves the people, not the powerful.”

The16th District includes parts of western Lehigh and upper Bucks counties, and both counties were posting unofficial vote tallies on their websites Tuesday night.

Lehigh County totals, as of 10:59 p.m.:

Pinsley: 37,761

Coleman: 34,071

Bucks County totals, as of 11:54 p.m.:

Pinsley: 24,776

Coleman: 25,830

Democrats celebrated winning control of the state Senate for the first time since 1992, giving them a “trifecta” in Harrisburg — they control the governor’s office, state House and state Senate.

This was the second time Coleman and Pinsley competed for the seat. In 2022, Pinsley lost by 10,500 votes to Coleman, then a Parkland School Board member.

This year’s campaign was contentious at times.

During a debate last week, Coleman accused Pinsley of being “the most radical, far left, taxed-obsessed candidate.”

“He keeps saying I’m radical, but he’s MAGA,” Pinsley countered.

Records released last last week show both raised large amounts of money for the campaign.

Some of largest donations to Coleman’s campaign came from executives in the skill games industry, which Coleman championed after courts declared the devices illegal gambling machines and ordered the state Legislature to regulate them by mid-October. The deadline passed without any action from lawmakers.

Executives from two companies, Pace-O-Matic and Republic Amusements, donated a combined  $650,000 to Coleman’s campaign. Another large donation came from David Jaindl, owner of Jaindl Farms, who gave $40,000.

Pinsley’s campaign received more than $1.5 million in donations, mostly from the Senate Democratic Campaign Committee and several state senators. State Sen. Steven J. Santarsiero, D-Bucks, gave $30,300 to Pinsley’s campaign.

Another large donor was Committee for a Better Tomorrow, the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association’s political action committee. It gave Pinsley $300,000.

Coleman, an airline pilot from Upper Milford Township, was elected to the Senate in 2022. Pinsley, of South Whitehall Township, is an Army veteran and has been Lehigh County controller since 2020.