WASHINGTON — President Bush and challenger John Kerry sweated out a tension-packed conclusion to the race between an embattled incumbent and a Democrat who questioned the war he waged in Iraq and the many jobs lost at home. Ohio loomed as this year's Florida, the decisive state, with Kerry's options dwindling.

With seven states up in the air well past midnight in the East, Kerry dispatched running mate John Edwards to tell supporters that the election will not be decided before much later today, said a senior adviser, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Edwards' statement would be an echo of 2000 when advisers to both Bush and Democrat Al Gore told supporters that the race was too close to call — setting off a 36-day recount.

Bush won Florida, the state he nailed down four years ago only after a 36-day recount and Supreme Court decision. Kerry took New Hampshire from Bush, who won it in 2000, but the state has just four electoral votes. That leaves Ohio and Nevada as Kerry's only hopes, and he wasn't conceding either.

"The vote count in Ohio has not been completed," said Kerry campaign manager Mary Beth Cahill. "There are more than 250,000 remaining votes to be counted. We believe when they are, John Kerry will win Ohio."

Not so, according to Bush's advisers who told the president he would capture the state.

"I believe I will win, thank you very much," Bush said while awaiting results with his family and dog Barney.

Kerry, a four-term Massachusetts senator, allowed himself to muse about the problems he might face in the White House, including a soaring deficit and a war that has claimed more than 1,100 lives.

"I'm not pretending to anybody that it's a bed of roses," the Democrat said.

The Electoral College count was excruciating: With 270 votes needed, Bush won 27 states for 249 votes. Kerry won 16 states plus the District of Columbia for 221 votes.

In the early hours of Wednesday, with several battleground states still unsettled, Kerry was still on the hunt for electoral votes the GOP won four years ago. The states won by Democrat Al Gore in 2000 are worth just 260 votes this year due to redistricting — 10 short of the coveted number.

Kerry could pick that up plus some in Ohio with 20 electoral votes. Without the Buckeye state, he could only turn to Nevada (5 votes).

A 269-269 tie would throw the presidential race to the House.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D.: "Obviously the presidential race is going to keep us up most of the night."