NOVICE POL SEEKS PUBLIC CONFIDENCE AND ELECTION

BENTON -- When most 4-year-olds were watching Bugs Bunny, Wayne Petitt was watching Richard Nixon's re-election campaign ads.

In 1976, at age 8, he firmly believed Jimmy Carter should be elected president.

By 1988, when his father ran for the Scott County Commission, Petitt was hooked. He went door to door, dispensing information about Jerry Petitt's plans for the county. Despite his dad's eventual defeat, Petitt joined the Scott County Democratic Committee and won a seat on the Scott City School Board.

So maybe it's appropriate that at age 27, Petitt holds a position traditionally filled by much older men. And he wants to stay there.

He was appointed District 2 commissioner in Scott County on Jan. 24, a little more than a month after the death of officeholder Joe Spalding. Petitt beat out 16 other people seeking the nomination.

He will face several of them again in the Aug. 6 primary election. Robert Niederkorn, Charles Klueppel, Joe Lee Michael, Bud Dock and David Dirnberger all sought the appointment and have filed for the election. Ben Evans also has filed for the seat.

Filling Spalding's shoes was a tough job, Democratic Committee Chairman Mike Marshall said. In the end, committee members simply chose one of their own.

"He lobbied hard for the job, and most of the committee members knew him," Marshall said. "With so many people trying for it, I figured there would be plenty of people in the race later."

Just as predictable was that Petitt's age would become an issue in the campaign. While other candidates don't mention it specifically, the word "experience" keeps popping up.

For example, a press release announcing Klueppel's candidacy said: "The commissioner is important to Scott County and needs to be someone experienced in business, finance and rural needs because of the variety of activity coming before the commission."

Klueppel, 60, had a 30-year career at Farmers and Merchants Bank, now Boatmen's. Now he is an insurance and securities broker.

While Evans, 54, mentioned his experience in the trucking business and as a former mayor of Oran, he said Petitt's youth shouldn't be a factor in the race.

"I don't know him," Evans said. "He is young, but that doesn't mean he doesn't know what he's doing."

Petitt doesn't know what the public's perception of him is, but he isn't taking any chances. His campaign for the appointment barely over, Petitt has begun another for the election. He had bumper stickers printed in mid-February and has one affixed to his car. While inspecting county roads, he stops to talk to residents about their concerns, mentioning his election plans.

"I'm prepared to run on my record while I'm in office, but there's barely enough time for people to see what I've done," he said. "I'll have to prove myself between now and the election. I need to get out and talk to people and make myself accessible."

Petitt works 12 hours a day Saturday, Sunday and Monday at Dana Corp. in Cape Girardeau, freeing him to pursue his political ambitions. He and his wife, Kim, have two children, ages 5 and 4 months.

The deadline to file for office in Scott County is March 26.