Concord – There was more sideshow than main event yesterday as the three-week filing period for the New Hampshire presidential primary opened.

Two convicted felons were the first to get on the ballot, with no major candidates expected at Secretary of State William Gardner's office until today.

Rep. Tom Tancredo, R-Colo., is the first candidate with a campaign of national scale who is scheduled to file, today at 11:30 a.m.

Gardner's office has also been contacted by Republicans Mike Huckabee, Sen. John McCain and Mitt Romney and Democrats Sen. Chris Dodd and Sen. Barack Obama about when they plan to arrive. The filing period runs through Nov. 2.

The first paperwork Gardner accepted was sent via FedEx by Republican Dr. Jack Edward Shepard of St. Paul, Minn. Shepard, a fugitive from justice on a 1982 Minnesota arson conviction, lists Rome, Italy, as his residence. He has lived abroad for more than 20 years, and in 1994 ran for one of Minnesota's seats in Congress. He sent 10 $100 travelers checks to pay his $1,000 filing fee.

Secretary of State Bill Gardner listens as Robert Haines speaks before filing his official candidacy in Concord yesterday.

Gardner spent nearly 90 minutes coaxing Republican Robert E. Haines of Manchester, who arrived first at the office, through the filing procedure.

Haines, free on $500 bail on a disorderly conduct charge, was convicted in 1995 of aiming a loaded rifle at another man outside a Manchester restaurant.

Gardner delayed accepting Haines paperwork until he could verify payment of his $1,000 filing fee, made with a line-of-credit check he got in the mail. In his fourth bid for President, Haines spoke at length to reporters and made several wardrobe changes before handing over his payment.

Gardner has grown used to theatrics on the first day of filing over his 30 years in office. He appeared to take things in stride, although he admitted, "This is unusual. We haven't had anything quite like this on the first morning before."

Michael S. Levinson of St. Petersburg, Fla., also made an appearance, his fourth since 1988, but he did not file candidacy papers. He said he wanted to meet reporters crowding Gardner's office and plans to launch a write-in campaign to run on both Republican and Democratic ballots.

Dr. Daniel C. Wilkerson Jr., a retired surgeon who lives in Amherst, attempted to file but was rejected because he is an undeclared voter, not a member of either major party.

►Tom Tancredo becomes first national candidate to file
►Des Moines Register: Jan. 3 is likely date for Iowa's GOP caucuses