2010 Campaign Season officially underway

Tuesday marked the official start of the 2010 campaign season as candidates filed paperwork with the Secretary of State's office to be placed on primary ballots.

In all, 418 candidates filed for U.S. Senate, U.S. House, State Auditor, State Senator, State Representative, and Circuit Court positions Tues. On Wed., just 11 candidates filed.

So why file on the first day? Candidates are assigned a random number with the chance of being listed first on the ballot.

As we noted earlier this week, the political science literature hasn't identified a clear statistical advantage, but conventional wisdom says it matters.

Here's where candidates stand in our closely watched primaries:

With the lucky number 271, Rep. Allen Icet (R) won the first spot for the State Auditor primary as challenger Tom Schweich (R) drew 637. In this down-ballot race where the candidates are not well known outside political circles, position could have an effect.

In the open U.S. Senate contest, among the field of nine Republicans, Congressman Roy Blunt will be listed in the middle with his main opponent, Chuck Purgason, last among first-day filers.

In U.S. House District 4 where Republicans hope to unseat incumbent Rep. Ike Skelton (D), six Republicans filed on the first day. Former state Rep. Vicky Hartzler will be listed third and main challenger Bill Stouffer will be sixth.

The active Democratic primary in Senate District 14 will have Rep. Ted Hoskins in the number one slot with Rep. Maria Chappelle-Nadal, who announced her candidacy Monday, listed fourth.

All three announced Democrats for the open seat in State Senate District 24, filed on the first day and it was Rep. Michael Corcoran who won the lottery for the first slot. With his fundraising slightly trailing Sam Page and Rep. Barbara Fraser, the top slot on the ballot may provide an extra boost. In this district rated a toss up by MPN, only Republican John Lamping filed the first day. Expected challenger Dean Plocher has not yet filed.

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