Whew! That was a close one.

It was rumored yesterday that Florida's Katherine Harris was thinking of throwing in the towel (or trowel) and abandoning her bid to win a senate seat this fall. It made sense, given her inability to receive party backing, issues of illegal donations, and her general incompetence.

But luckily for bloggers with a funny bone and every progressive radio host in the country, she's decided to hang in there. For a while, anyway.

U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris said she doesn't plan to drop out of the Senate race, a statement she made as rumors swirled Wednesday that she would end the campaign because of ties to a company involved in bribery scandal.

"I am out there. We are running hard. We think we have great momentum," Harris said in a telephone interview. She is the only major Republican in the race to unseat Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson.

Speculation was heavy in Washington and Florida that her association with a defense contractor, MZM Inc., that prosecutors say illegally funneled thousands of dollars to her 2004 House campaign would force her out of the race. Harris has said she didn't knowingly do anything wrong.