Presidential Race In Missouri Finally Called; McCain Wins 'By A Hair'

November 20, 2008 7:35 a.m. EST

Jefferson City, MO (AHN) - More than two weeks after a gracious concession speech on election night, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) was declared winner of Missouri, a state that had, up to this point, deviated only once from voting for the winning presidential candidate since 1904.

McCain received 49.4 percent, or 1,445,812 votes, of the 2.89 ballots cast, thereby capturing all of the state's 11 Electoral College votes. Obama, who needless to say remains president-elect, received 49.3 percent, or 1,441,910 votes. With all states now called, the final electoral vote tally is 365 for Obama and 173 for McCain. Only 270 votes were needed to win.

The results were released late Wednesday after Missouri's election officials received tallies from several counties including St. Louis.

Obama, the first Democrat to win more than 51 percent of the popular vote since 1964, is entitled to a recount since McCain's margin of victory is less than one percent.

Missouri has been long-considered a bellwether state, having only sided once with the losing presidential candidate in history. In 1956, Democrat Adlai Stevenson won narrowly in the state against Dwight Eisenhower, who won a second term at the White House that year.

Members of the Electoral College officially cast their votes on Dec. 15. The new 111th Congress meets on Jan. 6, 2009 to announce the results of that vote.

Obama will be sworn-in as the 44th U.S. president on Jan. 20, 2009 at the west front of the Capitol. His inaugural will also commemorate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth by having as its theme words from the Gettysburg address, "A New Birth of Freedom."