By Howard Fischer
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PHOENIX - Democrat Mark Kelly's lead over Blake Masters dropped from Tuesday, but the incumbent remained ahead of his Republican challenger in the latest numbers released Wednesday.

The data showed  Kelly with 51.4% of the vote. That's a dip from the 57% share he had Tuesday night.

But Kelly does not need to tally a majority to keep the seat that was once occupied by Republican John McCain and gain a new six-year term of his own.

That's because Libertarian Marc Victor had amassed nearly 41,000 votes despite having dropped out of the race last month. And that left Masters with the balance of about 46.4%

Kelly was ahead by more 95,000 votes late Wednesday. And that could prove to be difficult for Masters to make up, even with more than 560,000 ballots still to be counted, more than 400,000 from Maricopa County.

The race has gained national attention as Democrats need to keep Kelly in the Senate if they hope to maintain the 50-50 balance.