With the holidays looming, petition filing season is nearing an end as candidates are scrambling to acquire signatures that would allow them to run for their respective offices.

It’s a wild time, said Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro.

Bost and hundreds of other candidates, supporters and staff members lined up outside the Board of Elections office in Springfield at 8 a.m. Monday, braving the cold with donuts and coffee.

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Primary candidates, jockeying for ballot position, arrive early in an attempt to secure the coveted top slot. Any candidate who arrives before 8 a.m. brandishing the required number of petition signatures are eligible for the ballot lottery, in which one candidate’s name is drawn to appear first on the primary ballot in each race.

Though Bost does not appear to be facing a primary challenge, he made the pilgrimage to Springfield anyway.

I do it just to get in there and get it done, he said.

Carbondale Police Chief Don Strom, who last week told the media he will be seeking the Democratic nomination for state representative in the 115th District, has yet to file his petitions. Strom’s wife and Carbondale Police Youth Officer, Chris Strom, said her husband is on the trail for signatures and will file them Dec. 15, the same day he is scheduled to announce his candidacy.

Strom likely will run unopposed in the primary, setting up a November showdown with Bost, the Republican incumbent.

In the State Senate race, Democrat Barb Brown has filed her petitions and will turn her attention to a series of town hall meetings scheduled throughout the 58th District. Carol Hays, a Brown campaign worker, said Brown garnered more than the required 600 signatures; evidence that she already has a strong base of support.

Brown appears to be running unchallenged in the March primary, as no other candidates have filed for the race. If Brown passes her primary test, she will face incumbent Sen. Dave Luechtefeld, R-Okawville, in November.

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Luechtefeld says he is not concerned with the upcoming election, but is focusing on leftover legislative work.

It’s a long way off, and I won’t likely have an opponent in the primary, so I’ll just try to do a decent job at work, Luechtefeld said. The calls haven’t quit coming in

Luechtefeld said he is in the process of collecting signatures and will file them with the Board of Elections by the Dec. 15 deadline.

In other area races, Democratic incumbent U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello has filed his petitions for re-election in the 12th Congressional District. Costello will face Ken Wiezer in the primary, and either Mel Price or Gail Kohlmeier in the general election.

Gubernatorial candidates who have filed their petitions are Republican Secretary of State George Ryan and Democratic candidates, John Schmidt, former U.S. Justice Department official; Roland Burris, former Illinois Attorney General; U.S. Rep. Glenn Poshard, D-Ill.; Jim Burns, retired U.S. Attorney; and Chicago lawyer, Larry Burgess.

In the U.S. Senate race, Carol Moseley Braun, D-Ill., will run for re-election and face either Illinois Comptroller Loleta Didrickson or Sen. Peter Fitzgerald, R-Inverness, in November. All of the candidates have filed petitions.