Florida's secretary of state, Ms Katherine Harris (43), who drew Democratic wrath for refusing to extend yesterday's recount deadline for Florida's disputed presidential vote, is a cultured citrus heiress with a staunch Republican pedigree.
She became pivotal in the high-stakes presidential drama by refusing to bow to Democratic pressure to let recounted votes come in later than 5 p.m.
She was described on Monday by aides to the Democratic candidate, Mr Al Gore, as "a crony of the Bush brothers" and "a political hack", and was likened to a Soviet commissar.
Ms Harris is a co-chair in Florida of the campaign to get the Republican candidate, Governor George W. Bush, elected as president, and has accompanied his brother, Jeb the Florida Governor, on campaign swings.
But she has defended herself against charges of bias by saying that in her official position she merely implements procedures.
Elected in 1998 to the job of secretary of state, regarded until recently as a ceremonial position, Ms Harris has carved a reputation for building trade alliances with foreign nations and supporting the arts in the Sunshine State.
"But I don't think the office itself is something we envisioned as deciding a presidential election," the South Florida Sun-Sentinel newspaper quoted a local political expert as saying. "And I'm sure everybody involved is a little anxious about this heavy responsibility."
Mr Gore's lieutenants were less delicate about Ms Harris's role. "She is acting in the finest tradition of a Soviet commissar," Mr Gore's press secretary, Mr Chris Lehane, said.
"The secretary of state, a crony of the Bush brothers, is trying to steal this election away, and no one is going to stand for such a naked political act," said Mr Gore's communications director, Mr Mark Fabiani.
The former US secretary of state, Mr Warren Christopher, in Florida to oversee the recount for Mr Gore, said: "We think her action is arbitrary and unreasonable".
Mr Jeb Bush, who had promised to deliver Florida to his brother, took himself off the canvassing panel he sits on with Ms Harris to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest in the recount.
On the question of independence, Ms Harris answered Democratic criticism by saying her function on the panel was purely technical.
"All the votes as they come in, it's a very transparent process . . . It's a math process. It comes in from our supervisors of elections who were all independently elected. It's just a matter of numbers," she said.
A former IBM marketing executive and vice-president of a real estate firm, Ms Harris is a millionaire in her own right through stock in the family firm.
Her father, George, is the chairman of Citrus & Chemical Bank, and her grandfather, the late Ben Hill Griffin jnr, was a powerful Florida citrus baron.
Her forays to Washington and interest in foreign trade have stirred talk in the state capital that Ms Harris wants an ambassador's job when her term ends in 2002. Columnists noted her penchant for luxury hotels when she went to Washington.
The St Petersburg Times said that as secretary of state Ms Harris had visited more foreign countries than Governor Bush and had amassed more than $100,000 in travel bills.
"I have to say that I've been overwhelmed and quite honestly embarrassed to hear speculation on what I might do. I'm honoured my name is out there," Ms Harris said of gossip about an ambassadorial role.
"But as I've said in every speech, I have the best job in state government, and there are very few things I'd wish to do after that."
A fourth-generation Floridian, she has a history degree and a master's degree in international trade from Harvard University and studied art and Spanish at the University of Madrid.
Ms Harris, whose worth is put at more than $6.5 million, followed in her grandfather's footsteps, serving in the state legislature when she was elected to Florida's Senate in 1994.
Born in Key West and raised in Bartow, Polk County, Ms Harris is married and has a 17-year-old daughter.