Washington - US Senator Barack Obama will win the very close
Democratic presidential primary in the Midwestern state of Missouri,
television networks projected early Wednesday.
In the Republican Party primary, Senator John McCain was projected
to win a race in which the top three centre-right candidates were
separated by just 4 percentage points. As a winner-take-all
Republican state, Missouri's entire slate of 58 delegates will go to
McCain at the party's presidential nominating convention in
September.
Obama, who was elected in 2004 to the Senate from the neighbouring
state of Illinois, had a lead of 49 per cent to 48 per cent for
former first lady Hillary Clinton with 99 per cent of precincts
reporting. It was a lead of fewer than 7,000 votes out of more than
815,000 cast.
Obama dominated the state's two large cities, St Louis in the east
and Kansas City in the west, while Clinton, a senator from New York,
had the edge across rural Missouri in between. The Democrats award
delegates proportionally, so neither candidate gains a huge edge in
the state.
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee led on the Republican side
for most of the night as votes were counted in the state, but McCain
enjoyed a late surge to win with 33 per cent to 32 per cent. Former
Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney was a close third at 29 per cent.
Missouri's Republican Party has a strong contingent of
conservative Christians and a powerful anti-abortion lobby, which
lent strength to Huckabee, a Baptist minister who has courted the
religious right nationwide.
USA
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