Minnesota awoke Wednesday to a nightmare — the prospect of another long, bitter, expensive recount, this time for the governor’s office.

Republicans vowed to “turn over every stone” to help nominee Tom Emmer make up a deficit of about 9,000 votes to Democrat Mark Dayton from some 2.1 million cast. The vote difference falls within the bounds of a mandatory statewide recount.

With memories fresh of their 2008 overtime loss to Democrat Al Franken in Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race, Republicans promised an aggressive fight. With redistricting and control of the state’s finances in the balance, there was little incentive for either candidate to concede.

“We’re not going to get rolled this time,” said GOP chairman Tony Sutton, who has enlisted noted lawyers to take on Emmer’s case.

At a Wednesday morning news conference, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie defended the election, saying it was “extremely smooth” and “extremely calm” and without irregularities.

Dayton hadn’t appeared publicly since the wee hours, and Emmer issued only a written statement in which he made clear he’d press on.

“There is a process in law that will ensure that we arrive at a conclusive result, ensuring that all valid votes are counted and the will of the voters is met,” Emmer said.

Voters, meanwhile, agonized over another amazingly close race.

“It’s like, oh my lord, not again,” said Minneapolis resident Devin Clarkson, 28. “It’s disheartening, and I guess it shows Minnesota has become a really divided state in its politics.”

With Republicans storming to control of the Legislature, the re-count could lead to high intrigue. Pawlenty on Wednesday told The Associated Press that he was prepared to extend his term until his successor is decided. That means the new GOP legislative majorities could try to pass bills for Pawlenty to sign before Dayton could be sworn in, if he ultimately wins.

Pawlenty has said he would decide on a possible presidential bid early in 2012, but said “any of my personal plans or concerns are secondary” to fulfilling his constitutional obligation to remain governor while the process plays out.

Ritchie, a Democrat re-elected to a second term, said county canvassing boards will now review the results and report to the state canvassing board on Nov. 23. No re-count could proceed until then.

If the margin after the board meets is less than half a percentage point, it will trigger an automatic recount at taxpayers’ expense.

Ritchie said if there’s another recount, he expects it to be less emotional than the review of the 2008 U.S. Senate race, during which he received death threats.

“We, in our office, are planning to have fun in this recount this time around,” he said.

Sutton said the party was concerned about irregularities, including a mistake in Hennepin County that inflated overall votes. When the county corrected its figures late Tuesday, Dayton’s lead shrank by about 65,000 votes.

Elections manager Rachel Smith blamed a manual error by a worker clicking the wrong button while uploading results. Smith said the county was confident its updated figures were correct.