Florida 2000 election chief loses Senate race

MIAMI, Nov 8 (Reuters) Republican US Rep Katherine Harris lost her long-shot quest for the Senate after a gaffe-prone campaign that saw the former Florida election official shunned by her own party chieftains.

Democratic incumbent Sen Bill Nelson, who was considered vulnerable until Harris became his opponent, easily won re-election to a second six-year term, according to television network projections.

As Florida's top election official during the messy 2000 presidential vote recount, Harris won her party's gratitude and Democrats' enmity for certifying George W Bush the winner over Democrat Al Gore in Florida before the recounts were finished.

Although Harris did not concede early, Nelson was ahead by about 20 percentage points.

''Thank you for the continued privilege of public service,'' Nelson told supporters in his victory speech in Orlando. ''We are so grateful.'' Harris was elected two terms in the US House but Republican leaders considered her too polarizing for a Senate run. However, they failed to recruit a strong candidate to oppose Harris and then ran away from her as her campaign took one bizarre turn after another.

Harris accused the media of doctoring photos of her to add more makeup and gave conflicting explanations about her dealings with a corrupt defense contractor who made an illegal donation to her campaign.

She called the separation of church and state ''a lie'' and told Baptists, ''If you're not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin.'' Staffers deserted her campaign in droves, then portrayed her in newspaper interviews as prone to shrieking fits over minutia such as botched coffee orders.

Harris was the only Republican candidate running statewide who showed up when President Bush held a rally in Pensacola on Monday but did not get a seat on the stage with him and his brother, Gov Jeb Bush.

Bloggers ridiculed her bosom-flaunting wardrobe and the Palm Beach Post called Harris' candidacy ''one long-running freak show'' that did nothing to shake her image as ''a partisan banshee.'' ''It has been painful and embarrassing to watch the meltdown of Katherine Harris' campaign for the last 18 months,'' said the Bradenton Herald, which is published in her Republican-leaning congressional district.

Harris pledged to pump a 10 million dollars inheritance into her candidacy but never did and failed to raise enough cash to mount a serious campaign outside the conservative Republican circles that already supported her.

The Washington Post said Harris is writing a tell-all book about her treatment during the campaign.

REUTERS DH HS0815