Updated at 8:41 a.m. CST

DES MOINES — President Bush held a persistent — if narrow — lead in the race for Iowa’s seven electoral votes, even as the votes yet to be counted shrunk to a handful of precincts.

Democratic nominee John Kerry led most of the night as election returns rolled in from cities across the state, but Bush overtook him as returns trickled in from small towns and rural areas.

The focus remained on the top of the ticket, while other races drew comparatively little interest. Sen. Charles Grassley easily dispatched little-known Iowa City Democrat Art Small, and all five incumbent congressmen won another term in office.

With all but six of the state’s 2,079 precincts reporting, Bush had 741,325 votes to 725,700 for Kerry.

“Let’s be patient, let’s let the process work,” said Secretary of State Chet Culver.

There were a series of complicating factors. State election officials said 30,000 to 50,000 absentee ballots had been mailed to voters but not returned as of Tuesday. Those ballots had to be postmarked by Nov. 1, but election officials have until noon Monday to count them.

In addition, 10,000 to 15,000 provisional ballots were cast and officials will review them on Thursday. That’s roughly the same level as the 2000 election.

As the number of states truly up for grabs dwindled, both parties threw a massive number of television commercials at voters, the main rivals visited the state every few days and the two sides built huge voter-turnout machines.

Telephone banks and canvassers touched millions of voters in a state where Democrats won by just 4,144 votes in 2000.

Bush and Kerry brought considerable political history in Iowa to the contest. Bush won the state’s leadoff precinct causes in 2000, a victory that helped launch him to the Republican nomination and eventually to the White House.

Kerry began campaigning in Iowa nearly three years ago and he spent much of last year struggling with a campaign that featured infighting and had trouble finding a theme.

His surprising win in the Jan. 19 Iowa Caucuses gave him the momentum to claim the Democratic nomination. In some ways, Iowa party activists picked the ticket, because running mate John Edwards’ equally surprising second-place showing in Iowa allowed him to outlast all of his Democratic rivals but Kerry.

Edwards spent the closing days of the campaign courting Iowa voters. Not to give an inch, Vice President Dick Cheney did the same thing as both campaigns battled for Iowa’s seven electoral votes.

The last Republican to carry Iowa was Ronald Reagan in 1984.