On the first day of filing...

LAS VEGAS-Although there are still two weeks remaining to file, today's filings give a good early idea of what races will be competitive this year. Here's a brief rundown of candidate filings today. Note: We have omitted incumbent candidates that are yet unchallenged.

Congressional District 1: Four Republicans filed to challenge Rep. Shelley Berkley today. None of them have much of a chance to knock off the four-term incumbent, but may provide some entertainment from now until Aug. 12. The Republicans who filed today are Chris Dyer, Ed "Mr. Clean" Hamilton, Ray Kornfeld and Mike Powers.

Congressional District 2: Republican Rep. Dean Heller filed for reelection today and was joined by Independent American John Everhart.

Congressional District 3: Although it is a pretty sure bet that Nevada Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus will be facing off against Republican Rep. Jon Porter come November, four other candidates filed today for the suburban congressional district. Those candidates are Democrats Barry Michaels and Carlo "Tex" Poliak, Independent Jeffrey Reeves and Independent American Floyd Fitzgibbons. Poliak previously ran as a Republican against former Gov. Kenny Guinn.

Senate District 7A: Assemblyman David Parks is the establishment candidate to succeed Titus in the state senate, but that didn't prevent another Democrat, Steve Nathan, from filing today. Lou Toomin is also running in his tenth straight election.

Assembly District 2: Former Clark County GOP chair John Hambrick filed to succeed Assemblyman Garn Mabey today. Joining him was Democrat Carlos Blumberg and Independent American Jon Kamerath.

Assembly District 5: Republican Donna Toussaint filed to succeed Assemblywoman Valerie Weber, who is expected to file for Clark County Commission soon. Also filing today was Independent Don Woolbright.

Assembly District 9: Democratic Assemblyman Tick Segerblom filed for reelection today along with challenging Republican Jefferson Lee. The seat is safely Democratic.

Assembly District 13: Former congressional candidate Andrew Martin filed to challenge Republican Assemblyman Chad Christensen today. Also filing was Independent American Leonard Foster.

Assembly District 16: Republican Glenn Greener filed to challenge Assembly Majority Floor Leader John Oceguera, who also filed. The seat is safely Democratic.

Assembly District 17: Republican David Isbell filed to challenge Democratic Assemblyman Kelvin Atkinson today. The seat has an advantage for Democrats of nearly 6,000 voters.

Assembly District 21: Democrat Ellen Spiegel filed to challenge Republican Assemblyman Bob Beers today. Republicans have an edge of fewer than 500 voters in the district and Beers is none too popular with the GOP base. This could prove an interesting race.

Assembly District 28: Republican Augustin "Tino" Mendoza filed to challenge Democratic Assemblyman Mo Denis, who also filed. There are more than 3 times as many Democrats as Republicans in the district.

Assembly District 32: Republican Assemblyman John Marvel filed for reelection today and will be challenged in the primary by Mike Weber, Eric Smith, and Michael Nance.

Assembly District 42: Republican Carole Donald filed today to challenge Democratic Assemblyman Harry Mortenson, who also filed. Democrats strongly outnumber Republicans in the district.