Menu
Officeholders find late-arriving opponents
As the filing period for running for federal offices reaches its final days, many candidates are tossing their names into the ring at the last minute.
On Friday morning, 8th Congressional District Rep. Jason Smith gained one more challenger. Doug
Enyart, a Constitution Party candidate from Piedmont, Mo., will appear on the ballot with Democrat Barbara Stocker, Libertarian Rick Vandeven and Smith, the sole Republican.
Enyart ran against Smith last year in the June special election to fill the vacant 8th District seat and gained 3.6 percent of the vote.
Terri Hampton, a staff writer for a West Plains, Mo., newspaper, last year announced her intention to run against Smith as an Independent candidate. To be included on the ballot, she must collect and have certified a number of registered-voter signatures equal to 2 percent of the total cast in the previous November general election in the 8th Congressional District, which is just more than 6,000. The deadline to enter those signatures is July 28.
But Smith isn't the only local representative facing opposition from other parties.
In the early days of filing, it appeared state Rep. Kathy Swan, R-Cape Girardeau, would run unopposed for re-election in the 147th District in the Missouri Legislature, until Libertarian Greg Tlapek filed for the seat earlier this month.
This week -- the last full week to file -- two more candidates added their names to the list. Democrats Gary L. Gaines and Blake Hopper will appear on the August primary ballot.
In the 148th District,
incumbent state Rep. Holly Rehder of Sikeston, Mo., faces only one opponent, but he's from her party. Republican Duston Y. Stone of Scott City will run against Rehder in the fall primary.
Incumbent state Rep. Shelley Keeney, R-Marble Hill, and Democrat Charles Elrod of Fredericktown, Mo., so far are the only candidates to file for the seat in the statehouse's 145th District.
Southeast Missouri will have three open House seats this fall in the 149th, 150th and 151st districts.
State Rep. Kent Hampton, R-Malden, did not seek re-election to the 150th and could be replaced by Walter Dearing, D-Kennett, or Andrew McDaniel, R-Deering.
The 151st District seat was held by state Rep. Dennis Fowler, a Republican who announced his retirement after he failed to gain an appointment to the Missouri Board of Probation and Parole. Only one Democratic candidate, Ryan Holder of Advance, Mo., has filed to take his place. Republicans Amanda Jordan Brooks of Advance, Tila Rowland Hubrecht and Brandon A. Cooper, both of Dexter, Mo., also filed as candidates.
State Rep. Donna Lichtenegger, R-Jackson, is the only local lawmaker running unopposed as she seeks re-election to the 146th District.
Tuesday is the final day to file for federal office.