In the critical 8th Congressional District Republican Primary, results are now coming in.

With 53% of precincts reporting, Randy Graf leads with 40.5% to Steve Huffman's 39.0%, a lead of less than 500 votes. The others trail badly.

Could be a long night for this one. Nothing from Cochise or Santa Cruz counties yet - most of the results are from Pima County, which I believe includes most of the greater Tucson area, and Pinal County, whose less than 1100 votes are all in.

UPDATE 1 12:53 a.m.: With 62.1% of the vote in, Graf has a 700-vote lead on Huffman, 40.8% - 38.8%. Pinal and Santa Cruz Counties are all in, and Pima is 75% counted. We have nothing yet from Cochise County, which is on the Mexican border, but one might suspect Graf would have an edge there in a Repubican primary.

UPDATE 2 1:16 a.m.: As I thought, Graf won big in Cochise County, taking it by over 1000 votes to mount a 2000 vote overall lead, 42.4 - 37.8% over Huffman. 80% of precincts have reported, all that are still out are in populous Pima County. I estimate there are about 12,000 or so votes uncounted, so Huffman will need a big win of those remaining to pull it out.

The Republicans are split over the immigration issue in this district, and it may not be possible to carry it now, no matter who wins.

UPDATE 3 1:55 a.m.: With 89.9% of precincts reporting, including over 87% of Pima County, Graf has extended his lead to almost 3000 votes, 43.1% to 37.3% for Huffman.

Call the winner: Randy Graf. His win makes Democratic nominee State Sen. Gabrielle Giffords, an easy winner tonight with over 54% of the vote in a field of six candidates, the favorite to win the general election and take a Republican seat away.

If Graf can pull off a win in November, though, his tough stance on immigration will resonate on Capitol Hill, as this is considered a moderate swing district.

CORRECTION: As reader Cliff pointed out in comments, I had been referring to Graf as "Steve" instead of "Randy" throughout. For the sake of clarity, I have corrected those errors wherever they were above. Thanks again to our alert readers for keeping us on the straight and narrow!