By Marshall Griffin, KWMU
Jefferson City, MO – 317 political candidates filed to run for various offices in Missouri today, the first official day they could file.
Among those filing on the first day was Gina Loudon of Chesterfield. She's seeking the State Senate seat currently held by her husband, Republican John Loudon, who can't run again because of term limits.
Gina Loudon says she's not sure if having her name at the top of the ballot would improve her chances of winning.
"Not seeing the actual evidence, I'm not sure how much that matters, but certainly you'd rather be closer up on the ballot, for no other reason that people might get tired of looking," Loudon laughed as she said.
Also running in the 7th Senate District are current House members Neal St. Onge of Ballwin and Jane Cunningham of Chesterfield, both Republicans.
Cunningham won the lottery to have her name listed first on the 7th Senate District ballot.
Several dozen candidates were lined up at 8:AM at the Secretary of State's office in Jefferson City. And that line swelled to well over a hundred within minutes, all hoping that their names would be listed first in their respective races.
Secretary of State Robin Carnahan oversaw the opening day filings.
"The way it used to work is, the first one here, his name was first on the ballot, but over the years, having people camp out overnight for weeks at a time, that seemed to be pretty crazy...and so we've now gone to a lottery system," Carnahan said.
Carnahan, a Democrat, filed to run for re-election shortly after 10:30AM.
The first person today to file for any political race was 68-year-old Richard Kline of Gypsy.
Kline is a former Congressional candidate from Southeastern Missouri who's running for governor as a Republican.