(Adds Tester wins in Montana, Marshall wins in Georgia; paragraphs 9, 17-19 new) WASHINGTON, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Two Republican members of the Senate Agriculture Committee were defeated in congressional elections as well as House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, unofficial returns showed on Wednesday. Farm groups regarded Pombo, a California Republican, as a valuable ally in combating unreasonable environmental regulations. He also was vice-chair of the House Agriculture Committee and a sponsor of a bill to revise U.S. farm supports to give more attention to specialty crop grower. Republicans Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania and Jim Talent of Missouri were also defeated. Each chaired a Senate Agriculture subcommittee. Here is a summary of key races involving House and Senate committees that deal with agriculture: Senate --Missouri; State Auditor Claire McCaskill narrowly defeated Talent. McCaskill would end federal funding for a livestock trace-back system and supports country-of-origin labels on packages of red meat. Last year, Talent blocked the potential closure of 665 local offices of the Agriculture Department. --Pennsylvania; State Treasurer Bob Casey, a supporter of biofuels and country-of-origin labels on red meat, beat Santorum, a strong backer of the Milk Income Loss Contract, a dairy subsidy. --Minnesota; Democrat Amy Klobuchar won the seat of retiring Democrat Mark Dayton. Klobuchar supports disaster aid to farmers and country-of-origin labeling of red meat. She says she will ask for Dayton's seat on the Agriculture Committee. --Montana; Organic farmer Jon Tester, president of the Montana Senate, claimed victory by roughly 2,000 votes over Republican Sen. Conrad Burns, a former livestock auctioneer and a member of the Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture. Tester supports mandatory country-of-origin labeling of red meat and reforms to ensure fair livestock prices. House --California 11; Pombo lost to Democratic businessman Jerry McNerney, who has the support of environmental groups. --Connecticut 3; Democrat Rosa DeLauro easily won her ninth term and is in position to chair the House Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture. DeLauro is a skeptic of U.S. actions to prevent mad cow disease. --Minnesota 1; Six-term Republican Rep. Gil Gutknecht, chairman of a House Agriculture subcommittee, lost to Tim Walz, a Democrat and high school civics teacher, in a tight race dominated by the war in Iraq. --Iowa 3; Five-term Democratic Rep. Leonard Boswell, Agriculture Committee member, defeated Republican Jeff Lamberti. Boswell says he supported the 2002 farm law and it "funnels more federal funds to Iowa than to any other state." --Louisiana 3; First-term Democrat and former sugar executive Charlie Melancon, an Agriculture Committee member, defeated Republican state Sen. Craig Romero. --Colorado 4; Second-term Republican Marilyn Musgrave, an Agriculture Committee member, won a tight race against Democrat Angie Paccione in eastern Colorado. --Georgia 12; First-term Democrat John Barrow led by 921 votes with 98 percent of precincts counted in a rematch with former Republican Rep. Max Burns, unofficial results said at mid-afternoon. Barrow supports extension of 2002 farm law and was a leader in Democrat attempts to get a pre-election vote on disaster aid. A biofuels backer, Burns says he will work for "a better safety net" for farmers. --Georgia 8; Second-term Democratic Rep. Jim Marshall, an Agriculture Committee member, defeated Republican Mac Collins by 1,682 votes with 99 percent of precincts counted, said unofficial results. Democrats showcased Marshall while trying to force a vote on disaster aid to farmers. Collins served six terms in the House before running for the Senate in 2004.--Texas 23; Seventh-term Republican Henry Bonilla apparently will face Democratic state Rep. Ciro Rodriquez in a runoff. Bonilla is chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on agriculture.
