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Filing begins for August primary elections in Missouri

February 29, 2000
By: Michael Patrick Carney
State Capital Bureau
Links: http://mosl.sos.state.mo.us

JEFFERSON CITY - Matt Blunt wants to follow in father's footsteps. He took the first step Tuesday.

So did Lacy Clay. And Russ Carnahan.

They were among the 348 candidates who filed Tuesday for Missouri's August primary elections -- a 20 percent increase over the previous record set in 1996. More than 200 offices, from governor to circuit judge, are open for filing through March 28.

Jim Grebing, a spokesman for Secretary of State Bekki Cook, attributed the increase to term limits and an inordinate number of offices being contested without incumbent candidates.

Much like the presidential candidacies of George W. Bush and Al Gore Jr., the Blunt, Clay and Carnahan candidacies exemplify the politics of dynasty.

Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan's father was a seven term Congressman. The governor, a former state representative, is now running for the U.S. Senate. His son Russ filed Tuesday for a St. Louis seat in the Missouri House.

After eight terms as a Democrat in the Missouri statehouse, William Lacy Clay, Jr. will try to secure the Democratic nomination to succeed his father, Rep. Bill Clay, D-St. Louis, who is retiring after 32 years in Congress.

"The time has come now for me to assume the mantle of leadership my father has so honorably bore for the last three decades," said Clay.

Matt Blunt won election to the Missouri House two years ago, a position once held by his grandfather. Blunt is now trying to secure the Republican nomination for Secretary of State, a position once held by his father, Roy Blunt, who is seeking reelection to Congress from his Southwest Missouri district.

As of Tuesday, none of the four Columbia area legislators had drawn a challenge.

A list of contenders in the August primary is available through the Missouri Secretary of State's webpage .