"We are following the rules and we need to live by those rules, and not just call for a do-over because we don't like the results," said Senate Majority Leader Lisa Brown, D-Spokane, at The Associated Press's Legislative Preview on Tuesday.

Democrats hold a majority in the state House and Senate. On Tuesday they stood firmly behind fellow Democrat and Gov.-elect Christine Gregoire, who beat Republican Dino Rossi by 129 votes after a hand recount of 2.9 million ballots cast. Rossi, who won the first count and a machine recount, has not conceded and may contest the election in court.

On Tuesday, radio stations began running ads paid for by the state Republican party, declaring the governor's election a "certified mess" and urging people to petition the Legislature for a revote.

The ad focuses on a Marine wounded in Fallujah, Tyler Farmer of Everett, who didn't get his ballot until Nov. 3. Republicans have adopted military voters as the poster children for the revote effort, claiming many were wrongly disenfranchised while fighting to defend democracy.

But Secretary of State Sam Reed, also a Republican, said there's no evidence of any systemic problems with the military vote. Every county in the state mailed absentee ballots to registered military voters by early October, Reed said, and the U.S. Department of Justice even watched over the process to make sure it was done right.

State House Minority Leader Bruce Chandler, R-Granger, said the Legislature should delay ratifying the results of the election until more questions are answered. He disagreed with Brown's contention that the election process has followed the rules.

"The people of this state clearly have lost confidence in the election process," Chandler said Tuesday at The AP forum. "The truth of the matter is, we don't know who won this election and we never will."

But with Republicans in the minority in the Legislature, there's not much they can do to force a revote or delay ratifying the election.

Gregoire's inauguration is scheduled for Jan. 12.

"We have a new governor," said House Speaker Frank Chopp, D-Seattle.

Gregoire on Tuesday defended the legitimacy of her election, saying Republicans were unhappy with the process only because she won.

"The vote changed, I won, and now suddenly there's something wrong," Gregoire said. "I won by 129. It's time for us to put it behind us and move on."

While Gregoire said Rossi is free to contest the election, so far she believes "there is not a shred of evidence" to support a legal challenge.

She called the idea of a revote "absolutely ludicrous."

King County this week is reconciling its list of voters in the 2004 election, which is about 3,500 names short of the number of ballots cast. At least four other counties have similar discrepancies, which county auditors say is common.

County officials say there are several possible innocent explanations for the discrepancies, such as voters who moved after the election or people who signed the wrong line of the sign-in book at the polls.

State Republican leaders planned a revote rally in Olympia for next Tuesday, the second day of the 2005 legislative session.