JEFFERSON CITY - The Senate minority chose Sen. Maida Coleman, D-St. Louis, as their floor leader.

Senate newcomer Chuck Graham, D-Columbia, will be the assistant floor leader.

Sen. Pat Dougherty, D-St. Louis, will serve as caucus chair.

And Sen. Yvonne Wilson, D-Kansas City, will take over as caucus secretary.

These senators will lead the 11-member minority throughout the two-year period of the 93rd General Assembly, which will convene at noon on January 5th.

JEFFERSON CITY - Senate Republicans picked Sen. Mike Gibbons, R-St. Louis County, to be the new Senate president pro tem today.

He'll lead a senate with a large Republican majority, and GOP leaders say they'll push an aggressive agenda over the next two years.

JEFFERSON CITY - Governor elect Matt Blunt revealed former state senator Ken McClure will be his Transition Director and help him prepare to take office next year.

Blunt says the biggest priority for the two of them now is to prepare the budget for next year.

JEFFERSON CITY - Rod Jetton, 37, was selected Missouri's next speaker of the house Wednesday. Jetton along with governor-elect Matt Blunt, 33, will be the second youngest politicians to hold the respective positions in at least 40 years.

Outgoing House Minority Leader Mark Abel said this may be bad for Missourians.

JEFFERSON CITY - At his home in Springfield on Wednesday, governor-elect Matt Blunt discussed his some of his plans for transition into the governor's office.

Among his top priorities are immediately naming a transition team, meeting with legislative leaders and establishing his government reorganization task force.

JEFFERSON CITY - Peter Kinder says he's received concession from Bekki Cook.

The election came down to a tight margin. According to the secretary of state's office, with more than two and a half million votes cast Kinder won by slightly more than 16,000 votes.

JEFFERSON CITY - By winning elections in three Senate districts vacated by Democrats facing term limits, Republicans have increased their control over the Missouri Senate.

Victories in the 17th, 21st and 31st districts secured the two-thirds majority.

JEFFERSON CITY - Robin Carnahan was elected secretary of state, Sen. Sarah Steelman voted treasurer and Jay Nixon reelected Attorney General.

However, as of this writing, no official result has been declared in the lieutenant governor's race between Sen. Peter Kinder and Bekki Cook.

JEFFERSON CITY - Missouri Republicans won the governorship for the first time in over a decade, strengthed their position in the state Senate and performed well in statewide races this Election Day.

Matt Blunt declared victory shortly after 2 in the morning.

JEFFERSON CITY - In the battle to win a governor's race that two recent newspaper polls placed within the margin of error, both major parties said they have a staff of lawyers and poll watchers ready and on the lookout against dirty tricks this Election Day.

Both sides they had not legal action planned and neither predicted Missouri would feature the sort of legal drama expected in the swing states polling closely in the presidential race. However, both sides said they're prepared to handle any legal challanges.

JEFFERSON CITY - As polls show tight races for both the presidential campaign and Missouri's gubernatorial campaign, the threat of controversy looms over the work of election official as they prepare to count the state's votes.

With 114 counties in Missouri reporting vote counts to the Secretary of State's office, the process of counting votes occurs mainly on the local level. Results reported on election night are not considered official until they have undergone a certification process, ending nearly four weeks after the day of the election.