WEDNESDAY
November 8, 2000
Volume 107- Issue 54
12 pages
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Florida gives
last winning
votes, recount
a possibility
By Mariano Castillo & Beth Miller
The Battalion
Pending a recount in FLorida, Gov.
George W. Bush has been elected as the
43rd president of the United States after
a narrow victory in one of the tightest
presidential races in American history.
Gore did not concede the election as
of 3 a.m. because of a recount mandat
ed in Florida, where the two candidates
were separated by 224 votes with 5,000
yet to be counted.
The Texas governor received 271
electoral votes — only 22 electoral
votes more than the states won by Vice
President A1 Gore.
Thousands of Bush supporters
braved rain and low temperatures out
side of the Texas Capitol in Austin
Tuesday to hear Bush speak and
watched election results as they were
released.
Florida was the center of attention
since early in the evening. The state
clinched the presidency for Bush at
1:20 a.m., but CNN originally predict
ed a Gore victory at 6:50 p.m. Tuesday.
Other key states that remained un
decided until early this morning were
Oregan and Wisconsin.
The crowd gathered at the Texas
Capitol erupted in cheers at the an
nouncement, a far cry from the “CNN
sucks!” chants that filled the air hours
earlier when CNN admitted its incor
rect presumption.
Bush started the evening strong,
winning in Virginia and leading by 28
to 3 electoral votes at 6 p.m. The can
didates progressed steadily throughout
the evening, trading leading positions.
Between 6:30 and 7 p.m., Gore
picked up Michigan, Illinois and sev
eral northeastern states. Bush accumu
lated Georgia, Texas, Oklahoma, Mis
sissippi, Kansas and North Carolina.
One of the major turning points of
the evening came when CNN declared
Pennsylvania on the Gore side. In
Austin, spectators were reluctant to
lose hope but were noticeably nervous.
Bush continued to lead the race un
til Gore picked up Minnesota — one of
the previously undecided states — and
pulled ahead, 192 to 185 at 8:30 p.m.
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Americans have not
only elec led a leader,
they have elected a
president dial will do
what's ri^ht."
Rick Perry
It. (>ov. of loxas
At 3 a.m. Gov. George W. Bush was declared president
elect of the United States with Florida providing the last
votes. A margin of 224 votes between Bush and Vice Pres
ident Al Gore creates a possible recount in Florida.
Austinites celebrate victory
By Rolando Garcia & Brady Creel
The Battalion
“We want Bush!” chanted the Austin
crowd.
With the final votes rolling in from
Florida, Wisconsin and Oregon, support
ers of President-elect George W. Bush
danced the night away, knowing that their
candidate would be the president.
Bush supporters came in throngs to
the state capital Tuesday night, braving
cloudy skies and cold weather to cheer
on their candidate. They got their party.
Despite the weather and Bush’s
come-and-go domination of the electoral
vote throughout the night, the sea of
spectators remained steadfast and re
lentless, hoping to be a part of the action
and watch another page be written in
American history.
Even as the night wore on — and the
electoral vote closer — more people
gathered outside the party’s perimeter,
which was guarded in part by Texas
A&M Corps of Cadets Ross Volunteers.
GOP supporters crowded into a
closed-off section of Congress Avenue in
front of the Capitol building to watch
CNN broadcasts of the election results on
Jumbotron screens and listen to live en
tertainment in a festival-like atmosphere.
Beer was plentiful, as were smiles.
The mood of the crowd changed
quickly as the roller-coaster election re
turns trickled in. Cheers greeted the ear
ly poll projections, which gave Bush a
sizable lead in the electoral college.
BRANDON HENDERSON/The Battalion
Bush (R) 246 Electorial Votes
Gore (D) 249 Electorial Votes
As of 3:40 a.m. 43 electoral votes are undecided
But the mood turned more somber,
if still cautiously optimistic, as a group
of key states went to Vice President Al
Gore.
“We’re definitely concerned. We’re
still hoping, but now he has to win all of
the smaller states,” said Doris Light, a
resident of Bryan who came with her
family to the Austin election-night rally.
“I can’t believe the American public
would vote Gore in.”
“However it turns out, it’s history in
the making, and this is a great opportu
nity for our children to see it,” Light said.
The crowd reacted positively as tele
vision networks put several more states
in the Bush column, vocalizing approval
See Austin on Page 2.
Republicans
dominate
Texas ballot
DAI LAS (AP) -— Gov. George
W. Bush, anchoring the top of the
ticket for the GOP. easily claimed his
home state's presidential noil on Tues
day while fellow Republicans Hexed
their might in down-ballot races.
The lopsided margin of 1.3 mil
lion votes fueled Bush's apparent
win in the national popular vote. Al
though Bush wrapped up Texas' 32
electoral votes at poll close, his ap
parent victory over Democratic Vice
President Al Gore came down to a ra
zor-tliiu margin in Florida.
Assuming the margin stood. Bush
would become the second president
of the United Stales elected Irom
Texas and 1 a. Gov. Rick Perry would
assume the governor's office.
In other races, the GOP maintained
its advantage in the Texas Senate. ke\
to the major redistriding battle next
year. In the race that confirmed that
the Republicans would maintain con
trol of that legislative chamber, Todd
Staples, a former House member
from Palestine, defeated Democrat
David Fisher, a law yer from Silsbee.
Staples led. 61 to 39 percent, w ith
Sec GOP on Page 2.