MIAMI -- It was a tight race, but Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart beat opponent Joe Garcia in the race for Florida's District 25 seat on the U.S. House of Representatives. The district includes much of western Miami-Dade County, the Everglades and stretches across to take in Collier County.

Chants of "Mario! Mario! Mario!" filled the small campaign headquarters on Bird Road and Southwest 128th Avenue, where Diaz-Balart arrived with his wife and family by his side.

Results: U.S. Representative, District 25

Throughout the night, poll results had him neck and neck with his opponent, democrat Joe Garcia. The first time his seat had been in jeopardy since 2002 when he won it.

Diaz-Balart told Local 10's Janine Stanwood he knew it would be an uphill battle.

"I knew this was going to be a tough election, obviously. I was outspent, outfunded, but we were not outworked. And on the issues. The issues of better housing. Keeping people in their homes, and lowering gasoline prices," he said.

But even with a President-elect Obama, a Democrat, Diaz-Balart said he was confident he would be able to reach across the aisle to get his intiatives accomplished.

"I worked, when I was in the state legislature. I've been in the majority and in the minority, with a Democrat in the governor's mansion and a republican, and, so, I will continue to work," he said.

Garcia held his head high as he walked in to give his concession speech with supporters chanting his name.

“We didn’t get exactly where we wanted to go, but we got a long way there making a much better south Florida, a better community and each and every one of you should be proud of what we did,” he said.

Garcia said the geography of the district may have played a role in the outcome of the election.

“This district was designed by him. He knows this district. It stretches and it’s made precisely so that the incumbent has a tremendous advantage,” Garcia said.

Both sides spent plenty of money slinging mud in tough television ads during the campaign, but Garcia claimed he ran a clean campaign. Local 10's Todd Tongen asked Garcia if he had any regrets.

“Look, it’s done. We didn’t run attack ads. We ran a clean campaign and talked about the issues. It’s easy to second guess. Maybe we should have gone negative. I don’t think so,” he said.

This will be the fourth term for Diaz-Balart, 47, in a district where registered Republicans edge Democrats by just 3,364, compared with their 21,818 lead in 2006.