CLAYTON • Yes it’s election season, but some of the mailers and telephone surveys targeting Clayton households have nothing to do with politicians seeking office.

The biggest private development proposal in the region has taken on aspects of a political campaign, complete with direct mail seeking to influence residents of this affluent suburb.

On one side is Medicaid managed care company Centene Corp., which wants to build a $788 million to $1 billion campus along Forsyth Boulevard that includes two to three office towers, hotel rooms and an auditorium.

But a determined group of residents, spearheaded by condo owners in the Crescent building on Carondelet Plaza, is raising concerns about the 6,200 new parking spaces and associated traffic the huge office complex would bring to downtown Clayton.