Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft's office has announced an extended candidate filing deadline for several state offices, including that of 154th District Representative David Evans of West Plains, who officially withdrew from the race on Monday after announcing his retirement on March 11.
The filing period for the seat ended this past Tuesday, but since Evans withdrew within two working days prior to that, filing will reopen beginning 8 a.m. Tuesday, April 2. Prospective candidates may file during regular business hours through 5 p.m. Friday.
Republicans Lisa Durnell, Willow Springs, and Larry Lindemann and Mark Collins, both of West Plains, will have their names placed on the Aug. 2 primary ballot for the seat, and Democrat JoJo Stuart of Willow Springs remains unchallenged in the primary as of press time.
Other races that saw late withdrawals include lieutenant governor candidate Dean Plocher of Clayton, District 82 State Representative contender Ricky Cowell of St. Louis and District 84 candidate Robert Vroman of St. Louis, all Republicans.
In U.S. Representative races, withdrawals were Democratic candidate for District 2 John Kiehne of St. Louis, District 3 Republicans Mary Elizabeth Coleman of Jefferson City and Shane Zimmer of Freeburg, and District 6 Democrat Erik Richardson of Mexico, Mo.
Ashcroft announced this week that 580 candidates filed for federal and state offices during the official filing period which closed at 5 p.m. Tuesday. If certified, these candidates will appear on the Aug. 6 primary ballot.
“Thank you and congratulations to all who filed,” said Ashcroft. “It’s inspiring to see the number of people willing to give of themselves to become a part of the process. I applaud anyone willing to make that commitment to serve the people of Missouri.”
By party delineation, 345 Republican, 211 Democratic and 24 Libertarian candidates filed with the secretary of state’s office. Candidates who filed on the first day, Feb. 27, drew a random number to determine the order in which names appear on the ballot. Candidates who filed after that day will appear on the ballot in chronological order based on the time of filing.
