In one of our most closely-watched local Senate contests, the battle for Senate District 36 appaears down to a two-person race as Republican Doreen Costa leads Democrat Alana DiMario by a little over 800 votes, pending mail-in ballots.

Alright. Here we go. We just got a bunch of mail-in ballots reported.

In Narragansett, Jesse Pugh, Susan Cicilline Buonanno, Patrick Murray, Ewa Dzwierzynski and Laurie Kelly are your current top vote getters in the Town Council race. Kelly had a three-vote lead over Deborah Kopech at the moment for the final slot on the Council.

Pending any revisions of the numbers, the Narragansett School Committee will swear in Tammy McNeiece, Diane Nobles, Alexander Menzies, Joshua LaPlante and Ethan Farrell. Farrell has an eight-vote lead over Justin Wolf Skenyon, thanks in large part to in-person voting.

A strong surge of mail-in ballots has vaulted Democrat Abel Collins back onto the SK Town Council. Pending revised numbers, Collins finished third overall. He was behind top vote-getter Deborah Bergner and Rory McEntee and has a lead over both Deborah Kelso and Charles Sweet.

Mail-in ballots have also shaken up the race for the SK School Committee. Previous vote-leader Robert Hicks now trails a strong contingent of Democrats as Paula Whitford, Christie Fish, Michelle Brousseau and Melissa Boyd lead all candidates in the race of four open seats.

Mail-in ballots have ALSO changed the NK Town Council race. If the totals hold, the council will be controlled by Democrats as Greg Mancini and Kim Page have finished 1-2 in the race, ahead of Republican Kerry McKay, Democrat Katherine Anderson and Republican Mary Brimer.

The last of our local races: At the moment, pending revisions, Democrats Jennifer Lima and Jennifer Hoskins will lead the field, with Republican Hannah Zangari coming in third in the race for one of the three open slots on the NK School Committee.

Fitting in with the theme of the night: Mail-in ballots have also significantly changed the outcome of the Senate District 36 race. Republican Doreen Costa, who won in-person voting by a nearly 2-to-1 margin, now appears headed for defeat to Democratic candidate Alana DiMario.

How much of the vote is still outstanding in RI? There's no official way to tell. But based on other data we've been given, I'd estimate roughly 15,000 early in-person votes and somewhere between 15,000 and 26,000 mail ballots still need to be counted.

Pending a revision by the Board of Elections, it appears all four local ballot questions in Narragansett were approved easily by voters, giving a decisive win to supporters of the longstanding initiative to build a new library at the Belmont building.

We've counted 150,025 mail ballots and partial results are available on our website. We will continue processing mail ballots later today and will update results.

Lastly, a local ballot initiative to approve $6.5 million for municipal projects won easy approval in SK. (Pending any revisions.) This concludes our coverage tonight but we will update any relevant changes tomorrow. Be sure to pick up Thursday's Independent for full coverage.

Like the rest of the country, Rhode Island saw record turnout in this year's election. Do you believe your vote mattered? Let us know in this week's poll question here: independentri.com/poll_questions…

Do you love South County? Let us see how much! South County Life Magazine is officially accepting entries for our annual Photo Challenge. Winning entries will be published in our Spring issue, which publishes in March. For a link to the entry form, visit independentri.com/southcountylif…

A reminder for readers: Today is the deadline to enter our eighth annual South County Life Photo Challenge. Do you love South County? Let us see your best photos from the area! The winning entries will be published in our next issue, on newsstands in mid-March.

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EXCLUSIVE: For the second consecutive season, the lights will remain dark at Theatre By The Sea. We've got the exclusive story here: independentri.com/news/article_1…

South Kingstown Town Manager Robert Zarnetske announced this morning that, following a falling out with a majority of the town council, he will resign his post. Reporter Bill Seymour has the exclusive story here: independentri.com/news/article_3…

The NK School Committee reacted to concerns regarding the handling of recent controversy regarding the allegations against former coach Aaron Thomas after citizens asked about the details at the committee’s meeting last Tuesday night. Read more: independentri.com/news/article_f…