It's been more than 24 hours since polls closed in Washington, but the Senate race there remains undecided. On Wednesday, Democratic Sen. Patty Murray inched closer to victory, increasing her lead over her Republican challenger, Dino Rossi. However, the race is still too close to call.

As of Wednesday night, Murray led Rossi by 1.6 percentage points. The Senator started the day with a one point advantage. 

Because of the state's vote-by-mail system, it may take days before a winner is declared.  If the original vote count is close, less than 2,000 votes separating the candidates or less than a half percent of total votes separates the candidates, a recount will be called for.

For Rossi, it’s a case of déjà vu.

Back in 2004, the former State Senator lost the closest gubernatorial election in history to Christine Gregoire. In fact, Rossi was initially declared the Governor-elect before losing a second-recount by the razor-thin margin of 129 votes out of the roughly 2.8 million cast. The whole ordeal took place over a period of seven months.

Four years later, Rossi unsuccessfully tried to unseat Gregoire as Governor. The 2008 race, however, wasn’t nearly as close as the previous: Gregoire amassed 53 percent of the votes to easliy win her re-election bid.

This year’s Senate campaign between Rossi and Murray has been a tough one.

Murray, the fourth highest-ranking Democrat in the U.S. Senate and three-time senator, raised $15,313,579 and spent $14,844,250, more than double than that of her opponent. President Barack Obama and first Lady Michelle Obama visited Seattle separately last month, hoping to widen the gap between Murray and Dino Rossi, the Republican hopeful.

Yet despite these efforts, Washington’s Senate Race is among the closest in the country and the state is prepared for a recount.

Last week’s polls indicated that Rossi was gaining momentum in the race. Unlike previous polls that put Murray at an advantage, Washington’s Senate race was projected to be a toss-up in the polls.

The candidates attack ads have been fierce. Murray argues her opponent is "too conservative" on issues like abortion and claims his policies will send American jobs overseas.

Rossi claims his opponent is “fiscally irresponsible,” arguing the career politician went to D.C. with good intentions but “changed” in the process.

A victory for the Republicans in Washington, a traditionally blue state, would be a another tremendous blow to the Democrats.

The big question for Rossi now, though, is whether history will repeat itself. 

Recent polls suggested this race would be extremely close, with an average of polls showing Murray up by the slimmest of margins, 0.3 percent. After the 2004 controversy, the state Democratic and Republican Parties have prepared in advance; each party already have lawyers on standby and have begun fundraising efforts in the event the race comes down to another recount.

According to The Seattle Times: “The national Democrats, in fact, got permission from federal elections officials — way back in August — to spend money preparing for recounts, while the GOP is setting the stage for possible recounts at www.nomorefrankens.com.”

However, all this may be days away, as results are expected to be delayed because of an influx of vote-by-mail ballots expected to come in after Election Day. Washington voters have until Nov. 2 to mail in their ballots.

Reach Tracy Bloom here, Reporter Reut Cohen here, and Christine Detz here.