Democrat Andy Beshear declared victory over GOP Gov. Matt Bevin on Tuesday in a bitter Kentucky governors race that may rejuvenate the Democratic Party and leave Republicans lamenting another lost opportunity to cement their hold on the Bluegrass State.

Kentucky Secretary of State Alison Lundergan Grimes, a Democrat, declared Beshear the winner during an interview on CNN , and Beshear claimed victory shortly thereafter.

The Associated Press said the race was too close to call as Beshear led Bevin by less than a point, 49.2% to 48.8%, with nearly all votes counted. Bevin did not immediately concede defeat, suggesting the result could still be contested.

In a speech to supporters, Bevin said there have been more than a few irregularities and that they have been substantiated, though he did not specify what the irregularities were. No irregularities have been identified publicly by state election officials or by local media outlets.

For Republicans, and Bevin in particular, the loss is a stunning rebuke to a party that thought it had laid Democrats to rest in 2015 when Bevin sailed to an easy victory and 2016, when the GOP won its first state legislative majority in Kentucky since 1920 . Instead, the victory for Beshear, who served the last four years as the states attorney general, sent a signal that Kentucky Democrats, while damaged, arent dead yet .