Springfield, IL (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – A couple of candidates we spoke with during the last hour of filing at the State Board of Elections said, “The last shall be first.”

While candidates in line by 8 a.m. on the first day to file, Oct. 27, have a chance to be first, the candidates who file between 4 and 5 p.m. on the final day to file, Monday, have a chance to be last. Drawings of Illinois Lottery ping pong balls to determine ballot order are scheduled for Nov. 12.

Candidate Tedora Brown, seeking the Republican nomination for the suburban Chicago 11th Congressional District, actually wanted to be first. “I’m a first-time candidate, and I was unsure if I was supposed to contact my campaign attorney,” Brown said, “and I was on my way down here Monday (Oct. 27), and he called me and said, I haven’t received all your petitions. So I just wanted to cross my t’s and dot my i’s before making sure I made the right decision to come in today.”

Springfield Democrat Awisi Bustos wants to be a U.S. senator. “We need younger people to take charge, and just because (other candidates) have more name recognition doesn’t mean they have more experience than I do. It’s time to have everyday people stepping up to serve their country.”

Chicagoan Mark Fredrickson, seeking the Ninth Congressional District Democratic nod, wasn’t last so much as he was lost.

“They moved the office three times since the last time I ran for Congress,” he said.