Just days into the Oct. 10 territorial election campaign, all three parties already have almost full slates of candidates.

The only incumbent in the legislative assembly to declare she won't be seeking re-election is Pat Duncan, the former Liberal leader and premier.

Klondike MLA Peter Jenkins left the Yukon Party last November following a dispute about his then $308,000-plus debt in outstanding government loans to sit has an independent. He has yet to state what his intentions are for this election. As well, he has since repaid the money.

The final day for candidates to file their nomination papers is 2 p.m. Sept. 18.

Last night, the NDP acclaimed Dave Hobbis for Porter Creek North, Samson Hartland for Porter Creek South and Rhoda Merkel for Whitehorse West.

The election rally also placed ailing NDP Leader Todd Hardy back in the seat as the candidate for Whitehorse Centre.

Hardy is still in St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver being treated for leukemia.

He told the Star this morning he is pleased with how the NDP's candidates' slate is rounding out.

'It's not an old white club or any old boys' club,' he said.

The rest of the NDP's slate currently includes: incumbents Steve Cardiff for Mount Lorne and Lorraine Peter for Vuntut Gwitchin, Jorn Meier for Klondike, Kevin Barr for Southern Lakes, Nina Sutherland for Lake Laberge, James McCullough for Riverdale North and Peter Lesniak for Riverdale South.

Former Yukon Party cabinet minister John Edzerza will now be representing the NDP in McIntyre-Takhini.

Edzerza left the Yukon Party in early August after months of speculation about his political future when he declared himself a 'free agent' last winter.

Edzerza won the nomination of the NDP last month, defeating Rachael Lewis, a longtime NDP supporter and former election candidate.

'You've got the whole spectrum,' said Hardy, 'from youth to older people with backgrounds from every walk of life.'

It's a slate of potential MLAs that represents diverse interests, he said, and who will bring great debate to the caucus table.

'You name it, we've got it. No other party can say that.'

The party has yet to nominate candidates or even declare anyone with the intent to seek the party's nomination in Kluane, Mayo-Tatchun, Watson Lake, Pelly-Nisutlin, Copperbelt and Porter Creek Centre.

Hardy, however, said names are continuing to come forward and some individuals are currently just wrapping up arrangements with their places of employment to be able to run in the campaign.

Tonight, the Liberals will hold a mass nomination meeting similar to the NDP's.

Liberal Leader Arthur Mitchell is at the top of the list of the scheduled acclamations.

The party's nod is such a foregone conclusion that Mitchell began putting up his election signs in the Copperbelt riding last Friday night, hours after Premier Dennis Fentie announced the polling date at a joint chamber of commerce luncheon.

The other nominations scheduled for this evening are: Mike Walton for Whitehorse West, Bernie Phillips for Whitehorse Centre, Don Inverarity for Porter Creek South, Ed Schultz for McIntyre-Takhini and Colleen Wirth for Mount Lorne.

The Liberal nomination meeting for Pelly-Nisutlin will take place Thursday on Sept. 14, with Hammond Dick having put his name forward.

The following day will be the party's nomination meeting for Rick Harder in Watson Lake.

The Liberals will host their second contested nomination meeting on Wednesday night in Riverdale North, where Lesley Cabott and Frank Ursich have put forward their names.

Ursich also attempted to gain the Liberals' nod over the summer in the riding of Riverdale South, but lost to the party's new candidate, Phil Treusch.

Meanwhile, the Liberals won't be holding nomination meetings in Mayo-Tatchun or Kluane, where Eric Fairclough and Gary McRobb, who left the NDP last March to join the Liberals, will be running.

Mitchell said the Liberals have a policy that doesn't require incumbent candidates to seek nomination if they don't wish to.

The remainder of the Liberals' lineup is rounded out with Darius Elias running in Vuntut Gwitchin, Ethel Tizya in Southern Lakes, Jon Breen in Lake Laberge, Dale Cheeseman in Porter Creek North and David Laxton in Porter Creek Centre.

It leaves the party just looking for a candidate in the Klondike.

'You want to have the best candidates you can field in every riding,' said Mitchell.

He added that the party's slate has been in some flux with the Liberals initially preparing for a spring election as opposed to the fall.

'People's jobs and family situations change,' said Mitchell.

About half the candidates on the Liberals' slate approached the party themselves, said Mitchell, and the other half were recruited.

The Yukon Party is also just looking for one more candidate to fill out its slate. Mount Lorne is the only riding without anyone having declared his or her intentions to seek the nomination of the party.

All of the Yukon Party's remaining incumbents are scheduled to run again.

They include Fentie in Watson Lake, Patrick Rouble in Southern Lakes, Brad Cathers in Lake Laberge, Elaine Taylor in Whitehorse West, Jim Kenyon in Porter Creek North, Archie Lang in Porter Creek Centre, Ted Staffen in Riverdale North and Glenn Hart in Riverdale South.

Dean Hassard, who has been serving as the MLA for Pelly-Nisutlin this mandate, will be running in Porter Creek South in this campaign.

The remainder of the Yukon Party's candidates are: William Josie in Vuntut Gwitchin, Steve Nordick in Klondike, Jim Bowers in Kluane, Jeannie Van Bibber in Mayo-Tatchun, Marian Horne in Pelly-Nisutlin, Vicki Durrant in McIntyre-Takhini, Russ Hobbis for Copperbelt and Jerry Johnson for Whitehorse Centre.

Today's local news section includes short profiles of some candidates and potential candidates who have not been mentioned in the Star in the weeks leading up to the campaign.