Tampa, Fla. ? Bill McBride defied long odds in his race against Janet Reno in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, rising from political nobody to political player in a few short months.

But instead of basking in the glow of a major upset, the Tampa attorney is waiting for Reno to concede a close election plagued by problems with new voting machines, so he can get on with the race against Republican Gov. Jeb Bush.

Miami-Dade elections chief David Leahy, left, talks with an election worker while checking voting machines at the Elections Department Voting Equipment & Supply Warehouse in Miami. With ballots from high-tech touchscreen machines still in question, Florida Democrats may not know until the middle of this week who won the party's primary and will face Republican Gov. Jeb Bush in November.

He’s trying to campaign but doesn’t want to alienate thousands of Reno supporters, some of whom feel their votes weren’t counted.

“We’ve got to make sure that everyone’s comfortable in a democracy, that they were able to cast their votes and that somebody cared enough and respected enough to make sure that they were counted,” McBride said. “What we can’t do, as Democrats, is have the diversion keep us from what is important and that is electing a new governor.”

McBride, 57, held an 8,196-vote lead over the former U.S. attorney general after unofficial results came in last week. But his lead has dwindled to 5,685 votes, according to numbers released Sunday by both campaigns.

Reno and McBride campaign officials said they learned the former U.S. attorney general has picked up 2,511 votes in Miami-Dade County based on rechecked ballots cast in precincts that had experienced technical problems.

Election officials were searching in stacks of voting machines for perhaps thousands more votes.

Officials rejected Reno’s request for a statewide recount, but counties are allowed to amend the vote totals due to the state on Tuesday, so any votes that are found before then can still count.

The deadline for the state to certify the votes is Wednesday.

Reno isn’t faulting McBride for starting to campaign against Bush.

“If I were Bill, I’d be campaigning now,” she said.