SOUTH BEND — With a winner finally declared in the Democratic race for governor, all eyes now turn toward November. Jill Long Thompson is preparing for what could be a tough race to the finish against incumbent Republican Mitch Daniels.

By Wednesday night, all but two of the state's precincts were reporting final results, and Jill Long Thompson was ahead by 13,000 votes. Jim Schellinger conceded the race late in the afternoon.

Now, Long Thompson is preparing to face Daniels this fall in what experts say will likely be a tough battle. It's one that comes after the toughest battle of her political career, just to put her in the position to race again.

As she took the stage in Fort Wayne Wednesday morning to declare victory in the primary, Long Thompson told supporters she is prepared for another long fight.

"I stand ready to take on the task of this campaign and win in November, and start turning Indiana around and getting our economy back on track," she said.

With the prolonged primary battle barely settled, Long Thompson wasted no time setting the stage for a November showdown.

"I'm looking forward to the race against Mitch Daniels in the fall," she said.

But is it a race she can win?

Former South Bend Tribune political columnist Jack Colwell spent nearly 40 years covering Indiana politics. He says, absolutely, but it won't be easy.

"I don't think it's impossible. I think she could win," he said. "But it will be an uphill fight."

Colwell says there's a simple reason why.

"She comes out of this primary with almost no funding. She had to spend most what she raised in order to win the nomination. So she has to start from near ground zero, while he's been amassing funds since he was elected to his first term."

It's added up quickly. Daniels now has a massive war chest, reportedly in excess of $5 million. Long Thompson raised less than $500,000 for the primary.

Even so, no matter how narrow it was, she did manage to pull off a win against Schellinger despite the fact that she was outspent by a 3 to 1 margin

But Colwell says she didn't do it alone.

"Part of that was Jim Schellinger's fault," he said. "He spent so much time raising funds, that he didn't spend the money wisely to build his own name recognition. Mitch Daniels won't make that mistake."

That's already showing. The Daniels campaign just launched two new TV ads touting his accomplishments, from job creation to health care initiatives.

At a news conference near Indianapolis Wednesday, the governor said the ads were positive for a reason, as he called for a positive tone in the upcoming race.

"Campaigns can be dreary, but they can also be uplifting," he said. "I hope we have an uplifting talk about how do we keep rolling in Indiana."

But Colwell says Long Thompson may have no choice but to attack.

"She needs to keep on her message and keep hitting on jobs and the economy. But what she'll also have to do is take advantage of the negatives that are there for the governor, on various things, in various parts of the state," Colwell said.

In the northern part of the state, issue number one, he said, should be Daniels' privatization of the Indiana Toll Road.

The other keys to a Long Thompson victory, Colwell says, are a plan to build quick and widespread name recognition and a strong issue based platform that includes a clear plan to build jobs in depressed economic areas of the state.

Will it all be enough? The answer, say experts, may not be clear until November.

Schellinger, meanwhile, did not address the media Wednesday, but his campaign did call for "party unity" in the fight to unseat Daniels. Long Thompson's campaign says she is now actively searching for a running-mate.

No date has been set for an announcement of who that person might be.