Republican Blaine Luetkemeyer took a slight early lead over Democrat Judy Baker in the hotly-contested, high-spending race to succeed Rep. Kenny Hulshof in Missouri’s 9th Congressional District.

Partial returns showed Luetkemeyer had 9,728 votes and Baker 9,574 votes - a lead of 49.5 percent to 48.7 percent. The remainder were for Libertarian candidate Tamara Millay.

The figures were from 16 of 471 precincts in the northeast and central Missouri district, plus absentees from Boone County - which includes Baker’s home base of Columbia.

In the St. Charles County portion of the district, Luetkemeyer had a 1,123-to-848-vote lead over Baker. In Franklin County, Baker led, 1,007 to 958.

In the 2004 general election, about 25 percent of the 9th District vote came from Boone County and 15 percent from Franklin on the outer edge of the St. Louis area. St. Charles County put in 7.5 percent of the total. The bulk of the vote - about 48 percent - came from rural counties.