MINNEAPOLIS -- Support in Minnesota for Senate candidates Paul Wellstone and Norm Coleman remains virtually equal, according to a statewide poll.

Wellstone, the two-term Democratic incumbent, is favored by 47 percent of likely voters surveyed in the Star Tribune Minnesota poll. Forty-three percent favor Coleman, a Republican and former St. Paul mayor. A February Minnesota Poll showed Wellstone at 45 percent and Coleman at 44.

The race could influence which major party controls the chamber.

Green Party candidate Ed McGaa drew 3 percent, while 5 percent had no opinion. The poll of 812 Minnesotans was conducted June 20-24 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points.

The White House has shown strong interest in this race. President Bush is trying to wrest control of the Senate away from the Democrats, who own a one-vote majority.