Obama, McCain Claim Wins in Missouri

Sen. Barack Obama came from behind to win the Missouri Democratic primary Tuesday, while Sen. John McCain laid claim to the state’s Republican contest.

McCain, the senator from Arizona, received 33 percent of the vote to 32 percent for former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, CBS reported when declaring McCain the winner. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney picked up 29 percent.

The Democratic race, however, was razor-sharp as the vote-counting progressed. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York held the lead for much of the evening, only to see it evaporate in the end.

CBS declared Obama the winner with a 49 percent to 48 percent edge over Clinton, with less than 5,000 votes separating the senator from Illinois from Clinton.

Even though he had suspended his campaign, former Sen. John Edwards took 2 percent of the vote.

Missouri is known as the bellwether state because every president for the past century carried the state at least once. Missouri voters have chosen correctly each election since 1904, except for the 1952 race.

The Show Me state has 58 Republican delegates and 88 Democratic delegates.