While he was standing in the slow-moving filing line at the secretary of state's office last Tuesday, Sen. Dan Brown, R-Rolla, said he was going to surprise some people.
Brown still has two years to serve in his second Senate term - but term limits will block him from running again for that office in 2018.
So Brown filed last week as a candidate for state treasurer, creating a Republican primary contest with fellow Sen. Eric Schmitt.
Schmitt, R-Glendale, will be listed first on the Aug. 2 GOP primary ballot, ahead of Brown and anyone else who files in the next four weeks.
Former Rep. Judy Baker, D-Columbia, also filed for the office late Tuesday morning, about 90 minutes ahead of Pat Contreras, D-Kansas City.
But because there's a lottery for first-day filers, to determine their place on the ballot, Contreras' name will be listed ahead of Baker's on the August Democratic primary ballot.
Although these four are the only candidates for the statewide office, so far, candidate filing continues with the secretary of state's office through 5 p.m. March 29.
The Republicans
For more than a year, Schmitt has been touring the state and visiting with people about his plans to run for the office.
"Over the last 19 months, Sen. Eric Schmitt has been traveling the state and listening to Missourians about how the state treasurer's office can better serve them," spokesman Rich Chrismer told the News Tribune last week, in an email.
Schmitt's campaign news release issued Tuesday noted he "would bring conservative values and a strong work ethic to this statewide office."
Term limits prevent Schmitt from running for another four-year term in the state Senate, just as they prohibit current Treasurer Clint Zweifel from seeking another term in the statewide office.
Brown told reporters last week: "Treasurer is the chief financial officer of the state of Missouri, and the 529 (college savings) programs are big in outstate Missouri, which is where I'm from. ...
"We're pretty much a proven conservative, and we're pretty cautious with how we spend taxpayer dollars."
Brown acknowledged he got into the race later than Schmitt but said he'd been encouraged to run by people "from outstate Missouri," including "different commodity groups and ... smaller banks."
He said he already has been given some donations "and some are waiting until the end of the session" in May. He declined to identify those donors, noting their names will appear in his next campaign finance report, which is due to the Ethics Commission no later than April 15.
"I'm giving people an alternative to look at," Brown said. "I think outstate Missouri is our strong place, but we're committed to trying to build true rural and urban coalitions that we can move forward, to make the office equally applicable to everyone."
Schmitt's news release reported he's "been building a campaign team, raising the resources necessary to win and increasing momentum."
Also, he noted his announcement earlier this month, saying he's been endorsed by "over 100 current and former legislators from all corners of the state," and "notably ... received the endorsement of Missouri's only two living former Republican State Treasurers -Wendell Bailey and Sarah Steelman."
In the last 80 years, Schmitt said, Bailey and Steelman "are the only two Republicans to hold the (treasurer's) office."
Schmitt and Brown both talked about the need to shield Missouri's investments from, as Schmitt described them, "the dangers posed by President Obama's deal with Iran."
Both men also tout their pro-life values and votes.
Brown points to his six-plus years on the Senate's Appropriations Committee, "so I'm pretty familiar with the state budget and where money's supposed to be going."
Schmitt's news release spotlighted his being "the author of two of the largest tax cuts in state history, and (he) has led economic development and tax reform efforts in the Senate."
Schmitt, 40, is a St. Louis area native who attended Truman State University, then earned a law degree and has practiced in the St. Louis region.
Brown, 65, is a Southern Missouri native who earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia, then earned a doctor's degree in Veterinary Medicine. In addition to his animal work, Brown is a life-long farmer.
The Democrats
Baker, 56, is a Columbia native who represented Columbia in the Missouri House from 2005-09. Then, after losing to Blaine Luetkemeyer in the race to succeed Kenny Hulshof in Congress, she returned to teaching at Columbia College until November 2009, when she was named the Kansas City-based regional director for the U.S. Health and Human Services department.
She told the News Tribune last week she's "very excited about ... running for state treasurer. It's going to be a pretty exciting campaign in a year when everyone feels left out of the process.
"And, especially, (when they are) feeling like they need help with economic empowerment - and that's going to be my issue."
Contreras, 34, of Kansas City, served both the Obama and George W. Bush administrations as a U.S. State Department diplomat.
"I'm running for Treasurer with a great sense of optimism and a great deal of humility," Contreras said in a news release. "Missouri is a great place to live and raise a family, but there is so much more we can do - and the Treasurer's office can do - to help middle class families achieve the American Dream.
"If I'm given the chance to serve, my goal will bring practical 21st century solutions to the critical problems our state faces."
Contreras' online biography noted he "began his career at the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City where he helped guide community banking strategies, and now, (he) is working on the Jackson County Veterans Task Force to help those who have served find jobs, housing and services."
Baker pointed to her legislative and teaching background.
"When I was a state rep, I was the ranking member on the (House) Budget Committee," she explained. "We had a nearly $20 billion budget at the time that I fine-tooth combed when I was there.
"I've also taught economics for numerous semesters in Columbia," at both Columbia College and the University of Missouri, "and I've been a CEO and a COO and met payroll."
She added: "I am actually going to be running a campaign for economic empowerment.
"I'm not running for "office,' (and) it's not about an office - it's about what you can do with that office to help people."