By AP/KWMU
St. Louis, MO – Republican Jim Talent ousted incumbent Senator Jean Carnahan in the race for Missouri's U.S. Senate seat by fewer than 24,000 votes. The result of the race went down to the wire and was not known until after midnight this morning. The Missouri Secretary of State's office reports the following tally:
| Missouri's U.S. Senate Race | |||
| Candidate | Vote Total | Percentage | |
| Carnahan (D) | 907,658 | 48.6% | |
| Talent (R) | 931,059 | 49.9% | |
| Millay (L) | 18,267 | 1.0% | |
| Romano (G) | 10,448 | 0.6% | |
The Senator-elect says he'll now work to end the partisan divisions that have plagued Congress for two years. Carnahan conceded defeat early this morning and thanked her supporters.
Talent's victory helps gives the GOP control of the Senate. He lost in St. Louis and Kansas City, but made up for Carnahan's urban strength in rural Missouri. Out-state, Talent won by larger margins in many of the counties he carried in his losing 2000 race for governor.
He'll serve the remaining four years of the term won by Carnahan's late husband in 2000 and will assume his seat in the Senate as soon as the state certifies the election results. In 2000, then-governor Mel Carnahan was killed in a plane crash while campaigning. His wife was appointed to serve the first two years of his Senate term.
Dozens of well-known Republicans and Democrats campaigned for Talent and Carnahan. At a GOP rally Monday in St. Charles, President Bush said he needs allies like Talent in the Senate.
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