Reaction to Berg-Heitkamp Race - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Last night's election is proof that every vote counts.

Heidi Heitkamp defeated Rick Berg for North Dakota's U.S. seat by roughly 3,000 votes.

Tonight, we hear from both Berg and Heitkamp along with voters reaction.

History is made Tuesday night as Heidi Heitkamp is elected as the first female North Dakota Senator.

"We said in the very beginning that this was going to be an election and not an auction, guess what we had tonight, we had an election," Heidi Heitkamp said.

Heitkamp would not talk to any media the day following the election, however early Wednesday morning she spoke to a crowd of supporters, thanking them for their hard work.

"It just reminds me you came in the beginning you came to the rallies, you opened up your checkbooks, you donated, you volunteered, you put some skin in the game and you made this happen," Heitkamp said.

Wednesday afternoon Berg made a public appearance, announcing he is conceding the race.

"I just want to be clear that I want to concede this election to Heidi Heitkamp and thank her for her effort and her passion, even though I may not agree with her philosophy, but I think her passion is what makes our country great," Rick Berg said.

Voters we talked with are surprised at how close this race was.

I didn't think it'd be within 3,000 votes I didn't think it'd be that close, I thought Berg would win by a considerable amount," Eddie Cullum said.

It was pretty interesting looking at how close the race was actually compared to any others because in North Dakota a democrat usually doesn't get that far and I was surprised that she actually managed to go that far," Nathan Kurtti said.

While Heitkamp will head to Washington as she enters into a four year term as a U.S. Senator Rick Berg will be spending time with family.

"Right now I just want to enjoy my wife, enjoy my son and then finish my responsibilities as a U.S. Representative," Berg said.

But it's really not over till it's over.

There are still thousands of absentee ballots that will arrive legitimately after election day and will be added during county canvassing board meetings on Friday this week or Tuesday next week.

If those ballots determine a closer margin in the race, a recount though not likely would still be possible.