The 2016 presidential campaign on Monday moved to Illinois, however briefly, when the filing of petitions began at 8 a.m. for March 15 primary ballot spots for White House candidates and their all-important nominating delegate contenders.



Among the first to file were backers of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Chicago native who grew up in Park Ridge, who is seeking the Democratic presidential nomination.



On the Republican side, the early filers were businessman and reality TV show star Donald Trump, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.



The 8 a.m. petition filers for president will now be part of a lottery to determine top ballot position if their lists of signatures withstand any potential challenges.



Supporters of Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, a Vermont senator, said they expect to file petitions on the last day of filing Wednesday. Unsuccessful 2015 Chicago mayoral candidate Willie Wilson also was an early filer in his longshot bid for the Democratic nomination.



Petitions for delegates seeking election to back the candidates at national nominating conventions were still being processed by the Illinois State Board of Elections.



Delegate filing is particularly important in the Republican contest. The presidential preference vote is often called a "beauty contest" since it has no bearing on the number of delegates, who are directly elected by GOP primary voters.



A total of 54 GOP presidential nominating delegates are eligible for election — three from each of the state's 18 congressional districts. That puts the onus on presidential campaigns to file a full slate of delegate candidates to maximize their potential take from Illinois.



For Democrats, the nominating process is more complicated, using a hybrid approach that requires presidential candidates to get at least 15 percent of the vote in each congressional district to gain a percentage of the delegates.



There are 102 elected Democratic presidential nominating delegates.



With the Feb. 1, first-in-the-nation Iowa caucuses approaching, the Illinois presidential filing is viewed as an opportunity to look at the organization, breadth and long-game of the White House contenders. (Rick Pearson)

