Voters in Maple Valley, Covington, Black Diamond and the rest of the 8th District have retained U.S. Rep. Dave Reichert.

In last week’s general election, they sent the Republican back for his third term in Congress and shut down Democrat Darcy Burner’s second attempt to unseat Reichert. He also beat her two years ago.

Burner conceded defeat last Friday night – three days after the election – with Reichert’s lead at 138,537 votes (51.4 percent) to Burner’s 130,606 (48.5 percent).

That wasn’t the only close race for local voters. State Rep. Glenn Anderson, a Republican from the 5th District, which includes Maple Valley, fended off Democrat David Spring. Nearly a week after the election, Anderson’s lead widened from its smallest – 19 votes last week – to a margin of 1,794 over Spring as of Monday afternoon.

Votes will continue to be counted through Nov. 25, when the results are scheduled to be certified.

Reichert, a Republican, said he’s “honored that the people of the 8th District have chosen to send me back to Congress so I can continue serving them. I look forward to (working) in a bipartisan fashion, in cooperation with my colleagues and the new (President-elect Obama) administration, on the many issues facing this district, the state of Washington and the rest of our country.”

In King County, Reichert had captured slightly more than 50 percent of the votes.

The 8th District includes parts of King and Pierce counties.

Staff writer Kris Hill contributed to this report.