(WKTV) - Unofficial results for boards of elections across the 24th Congressional District show that incumbent democrat Michael Arcuri defeated Republican challenger Richard Hanna by 9,622 votes.

That sounds like a sizable margin but as the incumbent, many felt Arcuri would have run away with the seat.

When asked what could have been done better from a campaign standpoint, Arcuri wouldn't get into specifics. He simply says he is glad to represent the 24th Congressional district once again.

Arcuri won Oneida County by just over 1,000 votes. Bill Morris, Oneida County's Democratic Committee Chairman says such a small margin of victory may provide a good lesson. "I think if the campaign learned anything it maybe to marshal your forces differently," Morris says.

Hanna may have done better than some expectations, but what prevented him from pulling off the victory? Hanna says it may have been a struggle reaching certain groups throughout the large district.

Oneida County Republican committee chairman George Joseph feels more could have been done to secure rural communities like Cortland County which Arcuri won by 1,900 votes.

Joseph says Hanna likely learned quite a bit as well. "Richard came on strong, did he come on strong a little too late? I don't know...I think he was a quality candidate that just had an uphill battle."

Hanna may not be done with congressional politics yet. He says he has not decided if he will run for any public office again.

Joseph said he hopes Hanna does run as a republican again. While, Morris said with a smile, if Hanna runs again, he hopes its as a democrat.