POLITICAL BRIEFING

WEBSTER LEADS: The man best known for a landmark abortion decision that bears his name, Missouri Atty. Gen. William Webster, appears likely to emerge from the state’s Tuesday primary as the Republican nominee for governor. Webster, who defended Missouri’s restrictive abortion law in the 1989 Supreme Court case Webster vs. Reproductive Health Services, has a double-digit lead over his closest foe in the latest polls. . . . His Democratic challenger is expected to be either Lt. Gov. Mel Carnahan or St. Louis Mayor Vince Schoemehl, who are locked in a tight race for their party’s nod.