1.   They gather nominating petition signatures for lawmakers, raise money for them and sometimes even run their re-election campaigns.

2.   As a result, a three-judge panel in U.S. District Court in Manhattan issued an order blocking the circulation of nominating petitions.

3.   All of the mayoral candidates filed nominating petitions Thursday.

4.   But with nominating petitions due at the end of this week, it looks as if she will win re-election easily.

5.   Candidates have been confused about where they can gather nominating petitions and qualifying contributions for Clean Elections, both of which must come from registered voters in their districts.

6.   Candidates have been using the newly drawn map to gather signatures for nominating petitions.

7.   Consummating his divorce from the party organization, he skipped the Republican convention in May, instead circulating nominating petitions to earn his primary spot.

8.   Ever since the McCain campaign filed its nominating petitions earlier this month, the Republican party has dispatched a squad of workers to ferret out possible errors in paperwork.

9.   In North Carolina and Ohio, any one page of a nominating petition must contain signatures from only one county.

10.   Last year, the state Legislature eliminated many of the technical requirements that often turned the collection of signatures on nominating petitions into a painstaking, expensive process.