New Twist in a Brooklyn Senate Election That's Still Too Close to Call It has been eight weeks since voters in South Brooklyn cast their ballots for a short-term state senator in a short-term district. Eight long weeks of accusations, legal proceedings and ballot counting. David Storobin, a Republican, emerged with a lead of only 27 votes after the last group of contested ballots from the March 20 special election was tallied, triggering a recount. City Councilman Lewis A. Fidler, a Democrat, trailed narrowly in the race to succeed Carl Kruger. "We're going to fight this right down to the very end," said a lawyer for Mr. Fidler. On Monday, when the final tally appeared to be in, the election still did not end. After the last group of contested ballots from the March 20 special election was counted, a Republican, David Storobin, emerged with a 27-vote lead over the Democratic candidate, City Councilman Lewis A. Fidler. Now the race will go to a manual recount, the first since New York City began using its new scanning machines. Because Mr. Storobin's margin was less than one-half percent of the 22,137 votes cast, a hand recount is required under the rules of the Board of Elections. The election is quickly reaching a point of diminishing returns: the legislative session in Albany is scheduled to end on June 21. And the district will no longer exist as such as of January, since legislative district lines have been redrawn. The district's previous senator, Carl Kruger, resigned, pleaded guilty to corruption charges and has been sentenced to seven years in prison. The first-of-its-kind recount is likely to begin early next week, but the Board of Elections could not provide a timetable for its completion. Observers for both campaigns will oversee the commissioners" review of each paper ballot. It is possible, a spokeswoman for the board said, that more ballots than those already counted could be discovered during the manual review of the machines. "We're going to fight this right down to the very end," said Frank V. Carone, a lawyer for Mr. Fidler. But Mr. Storobin's campaign called for Mr. Fidler to concede the election. "It is clearly in the best interest of the people of the district to have immediate representation," said David Simpson, a spokesman for Mr. Storobin. Any attempt by the Fidler campaign to push for a recount would only delay the inevitable, at further cost to the taxpayers. The winter campaign had already been a contentious and personal one. But the real drama began on election night, when Mr. Storobin held a 120-vote lead. At that point, some absentee ballots and affidavits had not yet been counted; later both campaigns took legal action over some of those ballots. Mr. Storobin led through most of the counting, although Mr. Fidler at one point took an 87-vote lead. That was before Justice Larry D. Martin of State Supreme Court released another 119 ballots, dismissing Mr. Fidler's claim of fraud in the collection of absentee ballots by a former campaign worker for Mr. Storobin. David G. Greenfield, a city councilman representing Borough Park, Midwood and Flatbush, found some meaning in the protracted battle. "The best thing to come out of this Fidler/Storobin race is the manual recount," he wrote Monday on his Twitter account. Finally, we will know if these new electronic machines work!