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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The battle over stem cell research in Missouri doesn't lack for star power.

Ailing actor Michael J. Fox, rock star cancer-survivor Sheryl Crow, Super Bowl hero Kurt Warner, World Series pitcher Jeff Suppan and celebrities galore have all given voters their two cents.

Their fame threatens to overshadow the tight Senate race between Republican Sen. Jim Talent and Democratic challenger Claire McCaskill.

As the Nov. 7 elections near, Missouri's Senate race is intertwining with a ballot measure that would engrave the right to conduct embryonic stem cell research into the state constitution. McCaskill supports it; Talent opposes it.

The ballot initiative and Senate contest already have cost around $30 million each, counting money raised or spent by various campaign committees, the candidates and their political parities.

McCaskill's campaign began airing ads over the weekend featuring Fox, who while shaking from the effects of Parkinson's disease, urges voters to elect McCaskill because of her support for stem cell research. The ad prompted criticism from conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh.

The coalition supporting the initiative _ which recent polls...