GOP MAY FIGHT COOK RULING; SECRETARY OF STATE DISALLOWS 8TH DISTRICT FILINGS

The Missouri Republican Party likely won't passively take Secretary of State Bekki Cook's decision to keep the filing for the 8th Congressional District race closed.

State Republican Party spokesman Daryl Duwe said a decision will be made on whether to challenge the decision after U.S. Rep. Bill Emerson has been buried.

"We're still in mourning," Duwe said. "But we're not ready to accept (Cook's) interpretation at face value, not with her track record."

Duwe said there will be time to tend to political issues after the funeral. Emerson, 58, a Cape Girardeau Republican who represented the 8th District of Missouri since 1980, died Saturday night of lung cancer.

If the state's Republican Party decides to challenge the ruling, it will probably have to do so in court, Cook's spokesman Jim Grebing said.

If the filings do remain closed, as Grebing said appears likely considering how clear the law is, the Republicans will be represented by two untested candidates, Richard Kline and E. Earl Durnell, on the Aug. 6 primary ballot.

Two Republicans, three Democrats and one Libertarian are seeking the seat. One has no listed telephone number. Two are farmers. One used to publish weekly newspapers. Another has run unsuccessfully for the seat seven times.

Not one has held major elective or party office, nor are they considered party insiders.

"What in the world is going on?" one veteran Democratic operative asked. "Nobody knows any of these people. I can't imagine this happening. Why did it happen?"

Here's why: Smart political operators were more concerned about how a race against the ailing Emerson would look than whether they could gamble - and win - that he wouldn't survive inoperable lung cancer.

There are options that might pull some high-powered Republican candidates into the mix, including running as independents or campaigning as a write-in candidate. The process for running as an independent candidate is to have at least 2 percent of the registered voters in the district who voted in the last congressional election sign a petition endorsing their bid for election. That would mean the independents would have to collect at least 3,692 of the 184,586 voters on the petition and turn it into the secretary of state's office by 5 p.m. July 29.

Write-in candidates must declare themselves by 5 p.m. on the second Friday immediately preceding the election day, according to the statutes.

Those choices have reportedly been of interest to a number of politicians in the area. Names that have been mentioned as potential independent or write-in candidates: Sens. Jerry T. Howard, D-Dexter, Danny Staples, D-Eminence, and Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, Emerson's chief of staff Lloyd Smith, state Rep. Mark Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff, former state house minority leader David Steelman, former USDA deputy secretary Peter Myers of Sikeston, and Missouri Farm Bureau President Charlie Kruse

Staples said Monday he had been encouraged to run as an independent. "I can get 50,000 signatures if I need them," said the lawmaker, who represents several counties in the 8th District.

Staples said he has always wanted to serve Southeast Missouri in Congress, "but I had an agreement with Bill Emerson that I would never oppose him in an election. That's all changed now."

Kinder said it would be strategically best to run as a write-in and not run the risk of splitting the vote in the general election as an independent.

"A Republican congresswoman from the state of Washington named Linda Smith won the write-in primary two years ago," Kinder said. "So it has happened, not only in the modern era but as recently as two years ago."

There are statutes though that may prohibit Smith, Staples, Kinder, Howard and Richardson from leaving their current races to pursue the 8th District seat. According to statute 115.359, persons wishing to withdraw from a race must do so in writing no later than the 11th Tuesday prior to the primary election. With the Aug. 6 primary just five weeks away, that might preclude these men from crossing over.

Grebing said it is still possible to withdraw from a race but it would take a court order and the candidate might be charged the cost of reprinting the ballots.

The eventual nominees could step aside after winning the primaries, allowing party committees to choose new nominees - presumably from among the large field of experienced politicians eager to run.

However, one of the two remaining Republican candidates, rancher Durnell of Cabool, took a dim view of anyone asking him to quit the race if he defeats Richard Kline of Gipsy.

"I would be a little bit insulted at that," Durnell said.

Missouri Gov. Mel Carnahan's staff was still reviewing its options Monday on how best to fill the last few months of Emerson's term in Congress. Carnahan is required by the Constitution to call a special election and fill Emerson's office, even if it is just for a few weeks. The time frame and cost of holding a special election will probably force Carnahan to run the special election along with November's general election.

(Some information for this report was provided by Scott Charton of The Associated Press.)