Wednesday, December 3, 2008 9:16 AM CST

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri has officially lost its status as the prognosticator of presidential winners.

Election returns certified Tuesday by the secretary of state’s office show that Republican John McCain won the state Nov. 4 in Missouri’s closest presidential election in a century.

Of more than 2.9 million votes cast, McCain edged Democratic President-elect Barack Obama by 3,903 — or 0.13 percentage point. McCain’s total was one vote more than local election authorities had reported to the secretary of state two weeks ago.

Obama thus joins Dwight Eisenhower as the only presidents since 1900 to take office without winning Missouri. In 1956, Democrat Adlai Stevenson outpolled Eisenhower in Missouri by 3,984 votes out of more than 1.8 million cast.

In 1908, Republican William Howard Taft edged Democrat William Jennings Bryan in Missouri by 449 votes or 0.06 percent.

Polls had shown McCain and Obama in a tight race in Missouri throughout the campaign, and both spent considerable resources campaigning in the state.

Archives Web Site Marketplace Obits Babies Jobs