Surprise -- Scott Eckersley files for run in 7th Congressional District, as a Democrat

A former attorney for former Gov. Matt Blunt (R) filed yesterday for a run in Missouri's 7th Congressional District -- as a Democrat.

Scott Eckersley (D), who last year settled a wrongful termination suit with the state for $500,000, claimed he was fired from Blunt's office when he warned the office was illegally destroying e-mails which violated the state's Sunshine Law.

Eckersley will face Tim Davis (D), the city attorney for Branson, in the Democratic primary. If he shows he's serious about the campaign, Eckersley will likely receive support from Democrats at a fairly high level since he already has fairly high name recognition after the hullabaloo surrounding his termination under the Blunt Administration.

And Democrats will be all too eager to offer a serious candidate in this district where Republicans are lined up on a long list -- nine as of the end of the filing period -- in hopes of succeeding Congressman Roy Blunt (R) who is vacating the seat to run for the open U.S. Senate seat.

But based on a statement issued by Eckersley Tuesday, it's not immediately clear that he is convinced he should run.

"I filed today to leave open the possibility of running in Missouri's 7th district congressional race," Eckersley said in the statement. "Whether I run in 2010 or in the future, I will be an honest, independent voice."

Whoever wins the Democratic nomination for this district will face a very challenging field of Republicans, in a district that doesn't tend to favor Democrats. The Cook Partisan Voting Index for this district is R+17, which makes it a safe Republican seat, according to the index. However, in an open election, it may not be as safe as we would think.

On the other hand, even MPNblog.com's Missouri Voting Index (MVI) identifies the 10 county region that makes up the 7th Congressional District as R+14 in 2008, a Democratic year. That was only a slight improvement from 2004 when the MVI was R+16.

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