By BRENDAN FARRINGTON
Associated Press

MIAMI -- Republican Mel Martinez became the first Cuban-American elected to the U.S. Senate in a race that Democrat Betty Castor didn't concede until late Wednesday morning.

Martinez, who fled Cuba alone as a 15-year-old, resigned from President Bush's Cabinet to run for the seat opened up by the retirement of three-term Democratic Sen. Bob Graham.

Martinez claimed victory early Wednesday, but Castor initially refused to give up. She hired a lawyer and prepared to challenge Martinez's slim victory while Martinez expressed confidence.

``This is not a night for lawyers. I won. It's over,'' Martinez said

With 7,194 of 7,241 precincts reporting, Martinez had 3,551,627 votes, or 49 percent, compared to Castor with 3,470,400 votes, or 48 percent. Veterans Party candidate Dennis Bradley had 162,363 votes.

Castor finally conceded after going home for the night.

``This is as close as it gets, in my humble estimation,'' Castor told reporters in Tampa. ``It's not completely over but realistically, truthfully it would be very difficult to make up the difference.''

Martinez said he was grateful that Castor decided not to contest the outcome.

``I appreciated her willingness to let this campaign come to a conclusion,'' Martinez said at a news conference in Orlando. ``It showed as great deal of concern for the people of Florida.''

While there were still thousands of absentee ballots being counted in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties, Castor said she couldn't overcome Martinez's 81,000 vote lead.

``We would like to have every vote counted in this election. However even if every vote is counted we don't think it would be any different,'' she said.

Castor said the race was reminiscent of the last presidential election, which President Bush won by 537 votes after five weeks of recounts and legal battles.

``I was conjuring up 2000,'' she said. ``We want every vote to be counted in this state before there is any absolute completion of this race.''

Castor, a former state education commissioner and University of South Florida president, had hoped to join a Senate now made up of 14 women and 86 men.

If the margin of victory had been one-half of 1 percent or less, an automatic machine recount would have been ordered by elections supervisors.

The often bitter race was considered a toss-up heading into Election Day, with each of the candidates trying to build momentum from the presidential election. Martinez campaigned with the president several times over the final weeks of the campaign while Castor appeared with Democratic nominee John Kerry and his running mate John Edwards.

There were stark differences between the candidates.

Martinez favors capping medical malpractice lawsuit awards at $500,000 for non-economic damages; Castor opposes such a cap. Castor wants to preserve abortion rights; Martinez opposes abortion. Martinez said he would support letting younger workers privately invest their Social Security taxes; Castor said that would be too risky.

Martinez, however, focused on a statement Castor made during a debate two weeks before the election. She said she would have voted against the war in Iraq ``knowing what I know now.'' Martinez twisted the comment to say she was against the war on terror and that she would have left Saddam Hussein in power. Castor accused Martinez of distorting her position, saying ``Mel, give us all a break. Tell the truth.''

The campaign at times centered on former University of South Florida professor Sami Al-Arian, who was under investigation by the FBI when Castor ran the school. She placed him on paid administrative leave in 1996, but he was allowed to return two years later because no law enforcement action had been taken against him. He was indicted in 2003 on charges that he raised money for the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.

Castor began an ad war over Al-Arian that eventually dragged in President Bush and his brother, Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. She said she was the only person to take action to rid the university of terrorists. Martinez responded with an ad in which a federal investigator said she didn't do enough.

Castor then ran an ad showing Al-Arian and President Bush posing for a picture at a campaign event four years ago. Martinez countered with an ad in which Gov. Bush says Castor didn't act against suspected terrorists and instead tried ``to shift blame with outrageous claims.''

Graham is one of the most popular politicians in Florida's history. He served two terms as governor before being elected to the Senate in 1986.

He was well known for his workdays, which began in 1974 when he spent a day as a Carol City High School teacher. Over the years, he has worked as a stable boy, parking valet, tomato picker, flight attendant, chicken plucker, bagel maker, Santa Claus and in dozens of other jobs.

His popularity didn't catch on outside of Florida, though, and he abandoned a presidential campaign last fall before announcing he would retire from the Senate.

Castor easily won her party's nomination, taking 58 percent of the vote in a race that included U.S. Rep. Peter Deutsch and Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas.

Martinez earned 45 percent of the vote in a Republican primary with seven other candidates, including former U.S. Rep. Bill McCollum, state House Speaker Johnnie Byrd and millionaire businessman Doug Gallagher.

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