JEFFERSON CITY -- While there is still uncertainty over the boundary lines, hundreds of people Tuesday morning showed up to file as candidates for the United States Congress and the Missouri legislature.
The filing period for this year's elections opened on its original schedule, even though there is no final approval of the map for state Senate districts, and the Missouri Supreme Court has yet to rule on constitutional challenges to the state and U.S. House districts.
When asked if the uncertainty had been maddening, Representative Jay Barnes, a Republican up for re-election said, "if I dwelled on it, it might be maddening. But I don't spend my time worrying about what the map's gonna look like."
Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan had suggested that candidates for the state Senate wait to file, since the Senate districts cannot be finalized until the middle of the month.
Columbia Democrat Mary Still decided not to wait until the the new Senate District 19 is finalized. Still says, "whether that's Cooper County or Howard County, it's Boone County for sure."
St. Louis Democrat Russ Carnahan lost his congressional district when state lawmakers squeezed the state from nine districts to eight. Carnahan filed to run in the district now held by Rep. Lacy Clay, setting up a primary fight.
Carnahan was among the very first people in line, as was businessman Dave Spence, a Republican running for governor. "You can't sit at home and expect people to know who you are," says Spence. "So, we're running quite a bit of name ID advertising across the state to let everybody know who we are and what we're about."
Spence does not have to worry about Missouri boundary lines changing. If district boundaries or numbers change, candidates may have to withdraw and re-file, paying an additional filing fee. "The courts and the legislature still have this in flux," says Secretary Carnahan. "If it turns out that the numbers change, they can withdraw that and refile."
Callaway County Republican Travis Fitzwater filed to run for the Missouri House, but later released a statement saying it is only a contingency.
Fitzwater says he will not challenge incumbent Jeanie Riddle, who filed for re-election to the House pending resolution of the Senate district uncertainty.
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