Scott J. Israel, who fended off attacks about his party affiliation and internal affairs record, appears to be the winner of a close five-way Democratic primary for Broward's most powerful post: county sheriff.

All the precincts are reporting, but about 500 provisional ballots plus some absentee ballots are still being counted. The outstanding ballots aren't likely to change the outcome for Israel..

It appeared that Israel was in the lead late Tuesday night but the Supervisor of Elections halted the count shortly after midnight, leaving candidates and voters in limbo. The count resumed at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday and results now show Israel leading Richard ''Rick'' Lemack, Hollywood assistant city manager.

Israel, police chief in North Bay Village, said it was gut-wrenching to wait for the results -- more than 20 hours after the polls closed. ''I feel very very humbled by this whole process and what the voters did for me,'' he said.

Israel will face a big test: trying to unseat incumbent Republican Sheriff Al Lamberti in the general election in November.

The winner of that contest becomes leader of one of the largest law enforcement agencies in Florida.

Lamberti has more than double Israel's campaign contributions, better name recognition and support of many Democrats despite being a Republican.

But Israel has history on his side in a heavily Democratic county: scarcely any Republicans have won countywide contests in the last few decades. And he has a Jewish last name -- which likely helped him win the primary and could give him a boost Nov. 4.

Broward voters faced a rare competitive sheriff's race because Sheriff Ken Jenne stepped down last year amid public corruption charges. Jenne, a Democrat who held the office for about 10 years, is expected to leave federal prison in September.

Republican Gov. Charlie Crist appointed Lamberti, previously a BSO major, to replace Jenne last year. BSO manages the jail, handles security for the airport and seaport and is the main law enforcement agency for more than one dozen Broward cities. The sheriff oversees a $700 million budget.

Israel established himself early as the front runner in fundraising among Democrats -- which, in turn, prompted opponents to target him.

He was dogged by attacks about his party affiliation because he switched from Republican to Democrat in November. In one flier, Israel's photo was alongside those of George Bush and Dick Cheney. One robo call on the eve of the election was from someone pretending to be Richard Nixon saying Israel was his kind of guy.

Israel's foes also criticized him for being the subject of 10 internal affairs investigations while in Fort Lauderdale. He was cleared of wrongdoing in every incident.

The attacks -- which picked up steam days before the election -- likely did hurt Israel on election day. Although he was ahead in early voting and absentee, Lemack earned more votes on Tuesday.

The feisty Israel fought back during the campaign -- arguing that as a cop busting bad guys, he was bound to be the target of some complaints.

Israel, who is Jewish, used his last name to reach out to Jewish voters. In Pembroke Pines, Israel's supporters handed out small Israeli flags and urged voters to ''support Israel,'' hoping it would give them a boost with the hundreds of Jewish voters in Century Village.

Late in the campaign, some of Israel's supporters were part of a group that distributed a flier trying to link Lemack to scandals in Hollywood.

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