BATTLE FOR BALLOTS: THREE DEMOCRATS SEEK NOMINATION

Emily Firebaugh of Farmington is viewed as the leading Democratic candidate in the 8th District congressional race.

She has the backing of the state party and top Democratic officials from Gov. Mel Carnahan on down.

Firebaugh, 54, owns a timber business and is a former newspaper publisher.

"One of the major things I believe that gives me an advantage is that I am a common-sense business woman," she said. "I met the payrolls and balanced the budget."

Firebaugh favors a balanced budget amendment.

"I also feel we must cut the deficit, but not on the backs of our children and seniors,' she said.

Firebaugh wants to reduce the deficit by cutting "corporate welfare," reforming the health care system and taking fraud out of the welfare system.

Firebaugh said many corporations currently don't pay their full share of taxes because of loopholes. She wants to close those loopholes.

She also opposes cuts in the student loan program.

Firebaugh favors term limits. She said the country doesn't need professional politicians.

"Congress has forgotten who they represent. The last thing we should be doing is cutting Medicare, student loans and environmental protection."

Firebaugh said Congress must stop its partisan bickering. "We need people in Congress who will put aside partisan politics and work to create economic opportunity for working families."

Gene Curtis of Matthews ran in 1994, losing in the primary.

An insurance and real estate broker, Curtis is pushing his national health care plan as he did when he ran two years ago.

"I have a national health care plan that if it is enacted and done right should contribute toward curing a lot of the ills and woes in Washington," he said.

Curtis wants to set up a quasi-governmental organization like the Federal Land Bank system that would offer health insurance to every American.

Americans would pay insurance premiums that would help fund it. Some of the cost could be borne by a national sales tax, Curtis has suggested.

Curtis wants to cover everyone, including those on welfare. "Most of the people on welfare are there for the health benefits. They are afraid to get off."

He suggests setting up a national health care trust, with one trustee on it from each congressional district.

"We can use the existing insurance companies and existing insurance agents to work things through," he said.

Curtis also wants to turn closed military bases into prisons, and set up checkpoints in high crime areas where police officers could check any automobile entering or leaving the area.

Such security would amount to "low-grade martial law," he said.

"We have got to figure a way to get a handle on illegal drugs," he said.

Thad Bullock of Cape Girardeau is running for Congress for the eighth time.

He ran in 1968 and in every 8th District election since 1984.

In 1992, he won the Democratic primary in a field of six candidates. He lost to Bill Emerson in the November election.

A World War II veteran, Bullock said he doesn't want to cut veterans benefits to balance the federal budget. He also opposes cuts in benefits to senior citizens.

"I'd like to be on the Agriculture Committee," said Bullock, who owns a farm near Kennett.

He also stressed his business background. He operated a Cape Girardeau piano store for 40 years before closing it in 1991.

He currently works as a piano player at a local restaurant, tickling the ivories four nights a week.

As he has in past elections, the colorful Bullock campaigns by playing the piano at senior citizen centers. He boasts of spending less than $500 in this race.

"I am certainly the best known candidate in the district," he said, sporting his longtime "straw hat" made of styrofoam. "Everybody knows Thad Bullock."

Although he has difficulty hearing, Bullock said he can hear well enough with a hearing aid.

"I can't navigate as good. I can't see as good. I can't hear as good," said Bullock.

But he said he has improved as a piano player. "It is duck soup for me."