whitespace where i dont want it w/recent post listing

i am working on a bottom sidebar and have 4 columns. i am using the following to display this.

<div id=recent”>
<?php get_archives(‘postbypost’,’10’,’custom’,’

• ‘,’

‘); ?>
</div>

but there is about 30 px of whitespace that isnt supposed to be there and is throwing off my design the css for this is the following

#recent {
float: left;
}

i have tried using the right property for the next element but that doesnt work either because if i make then browser window smaller it doesnt line up properly with the rest of the design thanks