Warrensburg business owner, Christian author, veteran and flight school instructor Tony Monetti is “pleased as punch” his name will be first on the Aug. 7 Republican party primary ballot. The placement is a happy accident. Candidates who declared their bids for election on the opening day of the filing cycle were assigned placement by random drawing; those filing after that first day were added to the list in chronological order. Monetti just happened to get top billing.

Such visibility, he said, might give him an edge over Attorney Josh Hawley, said by some political analysts to be the presumed Republican frontrunner in the race for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Democrat Claire McCaskill, who is running for re-election.