![](https://cdn.socast.io/6616/sites/389/2019/11/25155249/First-day.jpg)
By Dave Dahl
SPRINGFIELD – In a quaint political tradition every other year in Springfield, a long line of candidates assembled Monday morning outside the Illinois State Board of Elections offices.
They want to be first on the ballot in their respective races in the March 17, 2020 primary.
“We have never been able to find any evidence or any sort of academic study that shows there is an advantage to having your name first on the ballot, but it is a tradition,” said Matt Dietrich, spokesman for the election board.
Marc Loveless, a statehouse candidate from Chicago, was not taking any chances. “They will tell you strategically that it’s a value of about two to three percent of the vote (to be first). Elections are won in the margins. That we all know.”
If you can’t be first, perhaps you can be last. The candidates who file in the final hour – leading up to 5 p.m. next Monday – have a chance for the bottom spot on the ballot. The lottery, featuring Illinois Lottery balls in a wooden box, is Dec. 11.
Dave Dahl can be reached at [email protected]