Democratic Rival Ends Young’s Governor Bid : Elections: The former U.N. ambassador gives a late start part of the blame for his loss to Georgia’s lieutenant governor.

Georgia Lt. Gov. Zell Miller won the Democratic nomination for governor Tuesday, cutting short Andrew Young’s effort to become the state’s first black governor.

With 99% of the precincts reporting, Miller had 576,226 votes, or 62%, and Young had 352,159 votes, or 38%.

“How sweet it is!” Miller shouted to supporters shortly after 11 p.m. He called his decisive win “a victory for the Georgia that can be.”

In a conciliatory concession speech half an hour earlier, Young told his supporters:

“I see the Democratic Party moving forward . . . with my former opponent, my friend, Zell Miller.”

Miller will face state Rep. Johnny Isakson, the Republican nominee, in November. Isakson had won the nomination outright in the July 17 primary.

Young blamed his loss, in part, on a late start, saying he had come to “realize that maybe I should have started eight years ago, instead of this year, for there just hasn’t been enough time to get to meet enough of the wonderful people in Georgia.”

For Young, the loss closes a chapter in his long history of public service, including stints in Congress, the United Nations and as mayor of Atlanta, and raises the question of what his next endeavor will be.

Since the primary last month in which he outpolled Young but failed to win a majority of Democratic votes, Miller, who has been lieutenant governor for 16 years, had amassed a 20-point lead in public opinion polls.

In an effort to overcome that lead, Young, in the final days of the contest, resorted to attack ads, labeling Miller “Zigzag Zell” and accusing him of waffling on several issues.

Also, Young, who was accused of ignoring black voters before the first round of voting, made a concerted effort to attract them in recent weeks. He could be heard on black-oriented radio stations, touting his record as mayor of Atlanta and boasting of his achievements in the civil rights movement as a chief aide to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

However, Miller had hit upon an issue that proved to be a winner: a state lottery. Georgians by the thousands trek to Florida to buy lottery tickets and responded to Miller’s promise to start one in this state. Miller also promised to apply part of the lottery proceeds to help the state’s schools.

Miller’s other high-profile campaign issue was the drug war, as he vowed to establish “military-style boot camps” for first offenders.

For his part, Young emphasized his worldwide contacts gained during his tenure as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and promised to attract business to the state, thus providing jobs and economic prosperity.

In other elections Tuesday:

In Kansas, Sen. Nancy Landon Kassebaum had no trouble gaining the GOP nomination for a third term, piling up 87% of the vote against political unknown Gregory Walstrom.

In Michigan, Republicans picked state Sen. John Engler to challenge Gov. James J. Blanchard and were favoring Rep. Bill Schuette to take on Sen. Carl Levin. Both incumbent Democrats seek third terms.

In Missouri, Rep. Richard A. Gephardt, the House majority leader, easily captured the Democratic nomination for an eighth term, claiming 82% of the vote against Nicholas F. Clement, a newspaper carrier who is a follower of extremist Lyndon H. LaRouche Jr.