DEPARTURE HAS DEMS SEEKING CANDIDATE

A decision Tuesday by State Rep. Steve Carroll to withdraw from the U.S. Senate race has left many Southeast Missouri Democrats looking for a candidate to support.

Carroll, from Hannibal, was regarded as one of three top contenders for the Democratic nomination. He was attractive to Bootheel Democrats because of his conservative views and rural background.

The remaining top contenders -- U.S. Rep. Alan Wheat and Jackson County Executive Marsha Murphy -- are both from Kansas City.

Carroll's withdrawal to instead file for a vacant state Senate seat that opened following the death of Sen. Norman Merrell last week, caught many Democrats off guard.

Among those was Sikeston businessman Bill Burch, a longtime Democratic Party leader who was organizing a June 30 fundraiser for Carroll.

"I was surprised," said Burch. "I read about it in this morning's paper. I was one of his supporters and we were ready to have a fundraiser."

Burch said Carroll's farm background and conservative record made him attractive as a candidate. While Burch believes Wheat will ultimately be the big beneficiary of Carroll's withdrawal, he has no idea who he will back.

Rep. Herb Fallert, D-Ste. Genevieve, one of a number of Carroll's House colleagues to endorse him for the nomination, said Wednesday he thinks Wheat will benefit the most but is unsure who he will support.

"At this time I am not lining up with anybody. To be real honest, I have not paid that much attention to others because I thought Steve was good and that's who I supported," said Fallert.

Fallert said he has no hard feelings over Carroll's decision, and expects him to run well in the state Senate race.

Said Fallert, "He is a good energetic, young politician. He has a good future in the political arena. I think he will make a good effective state senator if he wins. The federal level's loss is the state's gain. It was not a surprise to me that he changed his mind when the state seat opened. I think he felt that was a move he needed to take. It was his decision and I support him on that."

Rep. Larry Thomason, D-Kennett, was one of the first representatives to endorse Carroll and was working on next week's fundraiser. Thomason said he is disappointed by Carroll's withdrawal.

"I was really hoping we would have an opportunity to elect a rural senator," Thomason observed. "Rural Missouri does not get the representation we need and deserve. We now have a race where there is no viable candidate that represents rural Missouri. I think a lot of other representatives felt the same way."

Thomason said his feeling right now is to not support anyone in the primary and save his effort for the party's nominee.

"I just, at this point, don't see any of the candidates representing the interests of rural Missouri strong enough. Without that, I just can't jump in there. That could change, but not at this point," said Thomason.

He believes Carroll was running "very strong in this area" and now sees Murphy picking up a lot of that support.

"We tend to be fiscally conservative and socially moderate here in the bootheel. I think Marsha is closer to that. Wheat is a nice man, I think the world of him. But I think Murphy comes closer to having the ideology of those in the Bootheel of remaining candidates."

There was speculation that Carroll's candidacy had been struggling, largely because of his difficulty raising campaign funds.

On Wednesday, Murphy issued a statement proclaiming herself the clear choice for conservative and moderate Democrats.

"We have always thought this was a two-person race between Marsha Murphy and Alan Wheat. But, with Steve Carroll out of the race, Missourians who are looking for an alternative to Congressman Wheat's tired brand of liberalism now have one clear option: Marsha Murphy," the statement said.

Murphy added that she and Carroll were after the same pool of voters who do not want "classic tax and spenders" like Wheat.

Cape County Democratic Chairman Rick Althaus said Carroll had met with Democrats here in December and left a good impression with many. On the other hand, two weeks ago at the Byrd Township Democratic picnic, Wheat was greeted with standing ovations both before and after his remarks.

"I would guess Wheat and Carroll had the most interst down here and I think Carroll's leaving will benefit Wheat the most," said Althaus.

"The conventional wisdom was Carroll, as a rural candidate, would have outstate appeal. If that was true, then Wheat moves up because he definitely has good name recognition down here."

Althaus and others, who note that Murphy has not campaigned much in Southeast Missouri, now expect her to spend more time in this area.

John Cook, a Cape Girardeau attorney and Democratic Party leader, believes Carroll's leaving means "there is quite a lot of support up for grabs. Many of the Democrats I have spoken to think either candidate would be good and are trying to decide who could make the best race against Ashcroft."

Cook believes it is too early to gauge the real beneficiary of the withdrawal. He said the most important consideration for Democrats will be which candidate will wage the best race against Republican John Ashcroft in November.

Said Cook, "The only thing I have noticed among Democrats at this stage is a good deal of confidence that Ashcroft's record as governor does not position him well to run for the Senate. With Mel Carnahan getting elected and showing government can accomplish things, it shows people that eight years of doing nothing, as Ashcroft did, is not the best government can do. Ashcroft has an unsullied record of doing absolutely nothing."

Ed Meadows, treasurer of the county Democratic committee, believes Carroll's support will go several directions. Meadows said he liked Carroll when he came to Cape in December, but had not endorsed any candidate.

"I think Wheat is way too liberal and not electable, and I just don't see Murphy making it," said Meadows.

Meadows said the big winner could be Branson businessman Jim Thomas, who has been running TV ads but is not yet regarded as one of the top contenders.

Thomas has the support of entertainers like Boxcar Willie, Bobby Vinton and Mickey Gilley -- support Meadows believes can be translated into votes around rural Missouri.

"I think he will take some of those Branson entertainers and barnstorm the outstate and people will flock out to see them. He can use their notoriety and status to promote his campaign," said Meadows.

"Carroll's strength was the rural area and I think Thomas will benefit from that. I wouldn't count him out at this point."