The Michigan Daily - Wednesday, September 18, 2002 - 7 Reno concedes Florida gubernatorh MIAMI (AP) - Janet Reno conceded the Democratic nomination for governor to Bill McBride yesterday - a full week after Florida's bungled primary - after final vote counts showed him narrowly defeating the former attorney general. The final but still unofficial count had the Tampa lawyer and political newcomer winning by about 4,800 votes out of more than 1.3 million cast. McBride will face Republican *; Gov. Jeb Bush in November. Reno conceded yesterday afternoon. She said she told McBride "he was going to be a great governor." "I want to do everything that I possibly can to see that he gets elected," she said. McBride had claimed victory Thursday, two days after one of the closest elections in Florida history. Reno gained a net total of 3,400 votes in final counts released yesterday by Miami-Dade, Broward and other counties - not enough to erase the 8,196-vote margin McBride held after last week's preliminary tally. The results will be certified by the state today. The balloting Sept. 10 was marked by equipment glitches and human errors that brought back memories of the 2000 White House race. The problems happened despite a $32 million overhaul of Florida's election system that included the installation of touchscreen voting machines. Reno said yesterday she plans to make election reform her crusade in the coming months even as she campaighs for McBride. She said she will not sue to force a recount or otherwise challenge the results, though she said she could file a lawsuit on the voting process if that would advance her reform push. "The current governor of Florida has had two shots at it now and has not met either opportunity," she said. Bush, meanwhile, said he was "delighted" that it appeared his Democratic opponent has been finally decided. "For a year there have been three opponents that have been banging on my head and saying ugly things about me, not being very specific about what they would do different- ly," the governor said. "Now there will be one, and I'm look- ing forward to it." With the nomination secured, McBride settled on state Sen. Tom Rossin of Royal Palm Beach as his running mate, LI pnmary sources close to the campaign said Tuesday. Rossin, 69, is the Senate's Democratic leader. He broadens the ticket's geographic appeal and boasts seven years of legislative experience, an asset for McBride, who has never held elec- tive office. In a statement after Reno's speech, McBride said he was proud that the primary campaign had been void of personal attacks. "That contrasts sharply, of course, with the negative attacks of Jeb Bush," he said, referring to television ads by the Florida GOP attacking McBride's management when he headed the state's largest law firm. McBride's lead in the preliminary returns last week was larger than the half-a-percentage point margin necessary to trigger an automatic recount. The gap shrank to less than that when the final figures came in. But by then it was too late under the law for Reno to ask for a recount. The unofficial final totals showed McBride with 602,352 votes, or 44.38 percent; Reno with 597,558, or 44.03' per- cent; and state Sen. Daryl Jones of Miami with 157,107, or 11.57 percent. Over the past week, about 7,500 votes in Miami-Dade County and about 1,100 in Broward County were found to have been uncounted in the hours after the polls closed. There also were complaints of machines malfunctioning, polls opening several hours late, others closing early and voters being sent to the wrong precincts. Reno wasn't the only Democrat to point the finger at Bush for the foulups. Former Vice President Al Gore, who came out on the short end of the 2000 recount, also blamed the governor during a visit to Miami on Tuesday. , "It's ironic that another election foul-up under his lead- ership occurred in the very next election after he promised to fix it," Gore said. "I'm sure you'll see a lot of fancy efforts to talk his way out of that and blame everybody else he can." The governor has insisted that the problems were caused by Broward and Miami-Dade election officials. "I'm confident that 65 of the 67 counties that got it right in September will get it right in November, and we're going to demand that the two counties that didn't get it right do so," he said yesterday. Norton may appeal ruling finding her in contempt WASHINGTON (AP) - Interior Secretary Gale Norton said she may appeal a judge's decision holding her in con- tempt of court for failing to fix her department's misman- agement of hundreds of millions of dollars of royalties from Indian land. U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled yesterday that Norton not only failed to comply with his order to account for the money in the Indian accounts but committed fraud by misrepresenting the department's efforts to repair the trust and protect Indian money. "In my 15 years on the bench, I have never seen a litigant n*e such,4 concerted ;effort to subvert the truth-seeking function of the judicial process," Lamberth wrote. "The Department of Interior is truly an embarrassment to the fed- eral government in general and the executive branch in par- ticular." Norton said the ruling deals mostly with events that occurred before the Bush administration, and she has devot- ed more energy to fixing the management of Indian money than any other project. Elouise Cobell, a member of the Blackfeet Nation, who led a group of Indians in suing the department in 1996 for squandering Indian money, praised Lamberth's ruling and said it should serve as a warning to Norton and her depart- ment. "I prayed every day that this opinion would serve justice to the individual Indian beneficiaries. the ones who have been hurting for so long,".Cobell said. "We are on the road to justice, and I'm happy for this opinion." Norton is the third Cabinet officer that Lamberth has held in contempt over the trust fund. Former President Clinton's Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt and Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin were found in contempt in 1999. The government acknowledges major problems with the trust fund. The Interior Department has spent more than $600 million since 1996 to comply with instructions from both Congress and Lamberth, but accounting problems persist. In December the judge shut down most of the Interior Department's Internet connections because he said the agency could not ensure hackers wouldn't break in and steal money. During a 29-day trial that ended in late February, Norton asked Lamberth for more time to make fixes. Lamberth was unmoved. the michigan daily SCOREKEEPERS IS NOW HIRING Cooks, Floor men and wait staff for immediate open- ings. Bring your class schedule and apply to- C day at 210 Maynard A2 - Across from Borders Books Downtown. 995-0100. Free checking for college students,: Today's lesson - saving time and money. Because right now, full- time college students can get a free checking account at Comerica. 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