Of the nine candidates competing in the Aug. 5 primary, six are current or former members of the state legislature, which has term limits.

Now, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has upped the ante. In a memo obtained by The Hill, the DCCC noted that after Tuesday’s primary, the seat would be added to its Red to Blue program, which targets districts for takeover from Republicans.

The DCCC is betting on front-runners Steve Gaw, who is the former Missouri House Speaker, and state Rep. Judy Baker. It has reserved close to $1 million in ad time for the race.

Gaw and Baker each boast powerful endorsements. Gaw was endorsed by the largest paper in the state, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and has gotten several important union endorsements. Baker has been endorsed by the pro-choice EMILY’s List and has attracted support from liberal netroots activists as well.

The Republican contest has increasingly centered on state Rep. Bob Onder and former state Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer.

Luetkemeyer has been endorsed by Missouri Right to Life, while the Club for Growth has helped Onder by spending $100,000 on ads attacking Luetkemeyer.

“It’s very competitive between two candidates,” said T.J. Maloney, Onder’s campaign manager. “I’d say this race is wide open.”

The primary is hinging on right-to-life issues and immigration, with Onder accusing Luetkemeyer of supporting amnesty for illegal immigrants.

Luetkemeyer said that a video the Onder campaign circulated had been “doctored” to depict him as supporting amnesty for illegal immigrants. He also attacked the Club for Growth, claiming the ads were backfiring, and said his campaign is ahead in the race.

“Nobody knows who the Club for Growth is,” Luetkemeyer said. “It shows where he’s at that he needs a fringe group from Washington, D.C., to come in and help him.”

All four leading candidates have distanced themselves from their respective packs in fundraising.

On the Republican side, Luetkemeyer raised $330,000 through the middle of July, and Onder took in $470,000, though both were assisted by large loans. Their closest primary contender, state Rep. Danielle Moore, has raised a little more than $90,000.

Onder and Luetkemeyer have raised the stakes even higher in recent days, though. Onder loaned his campaign $100,000 in personal funds on July 23, and Luetkemeyer gave himself $160,000 in personal funds July 28.

Among Democrats, Baker has raised just under $410,000 to date, with almost $200,000 in the first half of July alone. Her closest competitor, Gaw, has raised under $220,000 total, but close to $110,000 in the past month. Both have benefited from a fundraising presence on the progressive ActBlue website, with Baker having drawn in more than $100,000 in donations from that site alone.

Still, the Democrats’ primary will likely be affected by the campaigns of Marion County Commissioner Lyndon Bode and former state Sen. Ken Jacob, who both remain in the race and have brought in more than $100,000 each.

“No one is suggesting that Bode’s going to win the race,” said Gaw spokesman Jeremiah Levine, “but Bode will take a percentage that may come out of us. But Ken Jacob is going to take a percentage, and that’s likely to come from Judy and be a larger portion than Bode’s.”

Nonetheless, it is a race that is all but focused on Baker and Gaw; the Gaw campaign speaks of its “opponent” obliquely, referring to Baker, while the Baker campaign takes pains to say it gives credit to all the candidates in the field, though with its focus clearly squared on Gaw.

A two-month-old Momentum Analysis poll showed Baker with a small advantage, with 20 percent to Gaw’s 14 percent. A combined 14 percent expressed support for the other candidates in the race, and left a high number of undecideds. Since then, Baker has played up her experience in the healthcare industry, while Gaw’s advertising focuses on his biography.

“All the information we get on the ground indicates Judy has increased her lead, and expanding between her and her opponents,” said Baker campaign manager Brian Zuzanek, who added the campaign has not conducted any polling since the one in May.

Both Luetkemeyer and Onder hope to hold the seat for Republicans, and each has spent north of $315,000 so far. Luetkemeyer has gone all in for the primary, too, taking out a $325,000 loan for his campaign July 2.

Luetkemeyer also said that their most recent polls showed his campaign with a somewhat “substantial” lead in the race. “We wouldn’t be attacked if we are behind,” he said, though he acknowledged there are a number of voters who are as yet undecided.

But candidates in both parties must first win their party’s support Tuesday in the 9th district, which encompasses a broad swath of northeast Missouri, including the conservative, northwest suburbs of St. Louis and liberal Columbia, site of the University of Missouri.

All four campaigns expect geography to play a role in Tuesday’s race, as well as the fall contest.

“Onder probably has geography going for him,” Missouri Democratic Party spokesman Jack Cardetti said of the Republican race. Onder is from a populous, traditionally conservative suburb of St. Louis in the eastern part of the district.

Baker is Columbia’s Democratic representative in the state house, and its voters may be a key to victory. “We are happy with the support we get from Mizzou,” said Zuzanek in a shorthand reference to the university.

Zuzanek also noted that the primary is closed, meaning independent voters familiar with the retiring Hulshof who want to support him in the gubernatorial primary will have to vote with a Republican ballot, and therefore the Democratic voters may be more liberal.

Nonetheless, national and state Democrats are optimistic that the district will be a pickup opportunity this fall. Cardetti said Gaw and Baker are “top-tier” candidates, while he concedes the state Democrats did not always run against Hulshof. Cardetti said their eventual candidate will have the advantage of tying Republicans not only to the Bush administration, but also to Missouri’s unpopular, single-term Gov. Matt Blunt (R).

Missouri Republican Party spokeswoman Tina Hervey downplayed the race’s competitiveness. “We don’t believe that the Democrats who are running carry a message that we need to be concerned about,” she said.