Bush Declared Winner in Florida... For Now

Florida's secretary of state certified George W. Bush the winner over Al Gore Sunday night in the state's near-deadlocked presidential vote _ but court challenges left in doubt which man will be

Sunday, November 26th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Florida's secretary of state certified George W. Bush the winner over Al Gore Sunday night in the state's near-deadlocked presidential vote _ but court challenges left in doubt which man will be the ultimate victor and 43rd president of the United States.

Republican Katherine Harris announced that Bush had edged Gore by 537 votes out of 6 million cast in the Nov. 7 election. Her declaration ignited celebration from Bush supporters outside the state capitol in Austin, Texas.

She did not include hand recounted ballots from Palm Beach County, where Gore had gained a net of 180 votes on Bush. She said Bush had 2,912,790 votes and Gore had 2,912,253.

Her declaration:

``Accordingly, on behalf of the state elections canvassing commission and in accordance with the laws of the state of Florida, I hereby declare Governor George W. Bush the winner of Florida's 25 electoral votes,'' Harris said.

If the certification stands up against court challenges, Bush would gain Florida's 25 electoral college votes, putting him at the 271 mark _ just one more than he needs to win the White House.

Democratic vice presidential nominee Joseph Lieberman, immediately after Harris' announcement, said the Democrats would contest the election.

``It is in our nation's interest that the winner in Florida is truly the person who got the most votes,'' Lieberman said. ``We do not know who would prevail after a full and fair count of every legal ballot.''