RICHARDSON, tHOMASON NEARING END OF QUESTS FOR LEADERSHIP POSTS

Mark Richardson has no opposition in his bid to win a third term in the Missouri House of Representatives from the 154th District, yet in the last 45 days he has logged 15,000 miles on his car.

Richardson hopes to be the next minority leader of the House, a position that would make him one of the highest ranking Republicans in the state.

To win that job, Richardson will need a majority of votes from his GOP colleagues at a caucus Thursday afternoon. As part of his effort to win votes for the leadership post, the Poplar Bluff legislator has been traveling the state in support of candidates.

"I am helping candidates as much as I can, helping with fund-raisers and campaigning door-to-door with them," explained Richardson.

He expects the race to be decided on a second ballot. In seeking the post, Richardson is challenging Rep. Pat Kelley of Lee's Summit, the current minority leader, and Rep. Dave Oettings of Concordia, who is now the assistant leader.

"It's going to be a tight race. I don't think there is any doubt about that," said Richardson.

On the other side of the House, Rep. Larry Thomason of Kennett hopes to win a second term as Democratic whip. Two years ago he edged out a narrow victory for the post and now faces a challenge from Rep. Patrick O'Connor of Bridgeton.

Like many of the other candidates for leadership posts, O'Connor sent a letter out near the end of the last legislative session expressing interest in the job.

Thomason is unopposed for a fourth term in the House from the 163rd District. But O'Connor does have a Republican opponent to contend with, which limits his time to run for the whip job.

Like Richardson, Thomason has been offering assistance to Democratic candidates around the state.

"I am checking with different people to see if they need help in their race and trying to line up people to help them," said Thomason.

Thomason will be in his capitol office tonight as election returns come in and will make congratulatory calls to winning Democrats.

Richardson will be in Poplar Bluff tonight, but will head to Jefferson City early Wednesday and begin calling winning Republicans to seek support.

"I have not asked directly a single person to commit to me yet, but after the election I will get more direct," said Richardson. "The only votes I feel confident about are from people who have come and told me they were supporting me.

"My approach, which is more in line with the what the Republican approach to leadership jobs have been in the past, has been soft-sell. You speak very little about a commitment for a vote. It is always in the background, but you do your campaigning with your actions and don't directly ask for a vote."

Richardson said he is good friends with Oettings and Kelley and it has been "a good, positive race."

Last week, during a visit to Cape Girardeau to support area Republican candidates, Kelley also characterized the race as competition between friends.

"I think the real beneficiaries of this race are our Republican candidates who have had us coming around to help them," said Kelley.

Rep. Mary Kasten, R-Cape Girardeau, who has been GOP caucus secretary for several years, is not seeking another term in that job.

On the Democratic side, longtime Rep. Gene Copeland of New Madrid is expected to win another turn as chairman of the House Democratic Caucus.

There will be races for most House leadership posts in both parties.

On the Senate side, members from both parties will hold caucuses later this week.

Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, said Senate Republicans will meet at 1 p.m. Thursday. Kinder said races for Senate leadership positions are more discreet than in the House.

"We try to do it by consensus," said Kinder.