Posted By: Margaret Pozzini

By DAVID A. LIEB, Associated Press WriterWed Nov 8, 1:29 AM ET

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - After traveling thousands of miles and spending millions of dollars, Republican Jim Talent and Democrat Claire McCaskill finished Election Day right where they started their Senate campaigns — just about even.
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In one of the nation's closest Senate races — one in which polls never showed a clear leader between Talent, the incumbent, and McCaskill, the state auditor — a winner was not immediately clear Tuesday as voters also decided several high-profile ballot measures.

An amendment enshrining the right to conduct embryonic stem cell research into the state constitution and a proposal to increase Missouri's minimum wage both had been expected to affect the Senate race. And the war in Iraq remained a top motivator for many voters.

The race was too close to call early Wednesday, and the decision on the stem cell amendment was also tight. Missouri law allows a runner-up to request a recount anytime the margin is less than 1 percentage point.

Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan predicted the stem cell initiative, in particular, could drive up turnout. Spending on the stem cell proposal and Senate contest each easily topped $30 million.

A McCaskill stem cell research ad featuring actor Michael J. Fox — swaying noticeably from the effects of Parkinson's disease — drew the skepticism of conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh, a Missouri native. It also prompted opponents of the ballot measure to hasten their own star-studded ad and cemented the mixing of the Senate race and stem cell initiative.

Talent opposes the stem cell initiative because it would allow a cloning procedure that he says destroys human life at its earliest stages. He took no official position on Missouri's minimum wage initiative, though Talent noted he has supported mandatory wage increases only when tied to tax relief for businesses, which the Missouri ballot measure is not.

McCaskill, by contrast, touted the wage initiative at almost every campaign stop.

She entered the final campaign weekend with a 24-hour push in the Democratic stronghold of St. Louis, stopping at diners, auto plants and grocery stores in the middle of the night.

President Bush appeared with Talent at two rallies in the Republican bases of Springfield and Joplin. Talent made two or three final-week trips to rural southern Missouri, which helped him eke out a 1-point victory over Democrat Sen. Jean Carnahan in a special 2002 election.

McCaskill hoped to turn history around against Talent, who unseated Carnahan two years after narrowly losing the gubernatorial election. McCaskill narrowly lost the 2004 gubernatorial election before deciding to challenge Talent.

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