AUGUSTA (AP) – Sen. Olympia Snowe was unopposed on Republican ballots Tuesday as she geared up her quest for a third term while two Democrats seeking their party’s nomination to become her underdog challenger in November were narrowly spaced in a race too close to call.

The Democratic contest, which had attracted little attention, matched lawyer Eric Mehnert of Orono and organic farmer Jean Hay Bright of Dixmont.

In unofficial returns from 417 of 634 precincts – 66 percent – Hay Bright led Mehnert by a total of 14,156 to 13,844.

The 312-vote edge gave Hay Bright a lead of 51 percent to 49 percent.

Neither candidate has held elective office.

Hay Bright, 58, finished next-to-last in crowded primary races for the 2nd District congressional seat in 1994 and for the U.S. Senate two years later.

A former newspaper reporter, she is the author of three books, two of them on politics.

Mehnert, 45, who practices law with his wife in Bangor, was once chief of enforcement for the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.

Snowe comes into this year undefeated in two Senate races, eight bids for Congress and three runs for the state Legislature. In her last race in 2000, Snowe defeated state Senate President Mark Lawrence by a margin of more than 2-to-1.

Hay Bright cites her experience in living for years without electricity on acreage purchased from back-to-the-land gurus Helen and Scott Nearing as “very empowering.”

Mehnert points to courtroom work that prepared him for daunting challenges.

“Every time I take a case, I go up aqainst a large law firm that is better funded,” he said prior to Tuesday’s voting.

At the Democratic State Convention in Augusta earlier this month, the two Senate candidates were cheered enthusiastically.

Their speeches included similar themes, sharply criticizing President Bush for the war in Iraq and Snowe for following the president’s lead on important tax, military and privacy issues.

The Hay Bright camp gathered Tuesday night in Portland, while Mehnert planned to join supporters in Orono and Bangor.

Democrats Tom Allen of Portland, in his fifth term, and Michael Michaud of East Millinocket, a second-termer, hold the state’s two seats in the House of Representatives and are running for re-election.

Neither faced primary opposition Tuesday, nor did their Republican challengers, state Rep. Darlene Curley of Scarborough and political unknown Scott D’Amboise of Lisbon.

AP-ES-06-13-06 2259EDT