US Senate control hinges on Virginia race

WASHINGTON, Nov 9 (Reuters) Control of the US Senate hinged on one final race in Virginia where Democrat James Webb today clung to a 7,000-vote lead.

Webb has claimed victory over Republican Sen George Allen, and several media outlets including television networks NBC and CBS and The Associated Press also declared him the winner.

Allen has not conceded defeat, awaiting the outcome of a canvass of the state's voting tallies that could be completed by the end of the day.

If the numbers continue to favor Webb, Allen ''has absolutely no intention of dragging this out,'' said a senior adviser to his campaign.

Democrats won the US House of Representatives outright in Tuesday's elections and had taken 50 seats in the Senate compared to the Republicans' 49.

A Virginia victory would give Democrats the 51st seat in the 100-seat Senate and complete control of Congress for the first time in 12 years. It would be the first time they ran both houses in Republican President George W Bush's six years in office.

Allen, a former Virginia governor and son of a famous professional football coach, was first elected to the Senate in 2000. He began the 2006 campaign as a heavy favorite to win re-election, and there was strong speculation he would seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2008.

But a series of missteps and a growing voter discontent with Bush and his Iraq war policy began closing the gap over Webb.

The troubles started in August when Allen testily referred to a Webb campaign aide as ''macaca'' -- an African monkey whose name is sometimes used as a racial slur -- and said, ''Welcome to America.'' The aide was of Indian descent, and the retort sparked charges of racism.

Then at a televised debate, Allen refused to acknowledge his Jewish ancestry and raised questions about whether he was embarrassed about it.

He later issued a statement saying he was proud of it but at the same time he tried to make a joke about eating a ham sandwich for lunch.

Webb, who served as President Ronald Reagan's secretary of the Navy, was a Republican until recently and had to win a contested Democratic primary to get the party's nomination.

Initially shunned by some in the party for being insufficiently Democratic, Webb gathered support as Allen stumbled and the national Democratic party started pumping money into the race.

REUTERS AB RN2144