ST. LOUIS — In many other cities, it would be a boon to the opposition party: Two sitting Democratic lawmakers convicted of corruption, opening up their seats to fresh competition.

But, in the St. Louis area, Tuesday's vote to replace former state Sen. Jeff Smith and ex-state Rep. Steve Brown, who left office after admitting their roles in a political cover-up, has generated tepid response.

At least in the Clayton district Brown represented, Republicans are fielding a candidate. In Smith's old Senate district, which covers about half of St. Louis, the Democratic nominee is running unopposed.

Turnout is not expected to exceed 15 percent — less than one in five registered voters — even though Brown's and Smith's crimes have been in the news for months.

Where's the outrage?

Stuck, it seems, between a partisan monopoly and voter ennui. The ho-hum race offers an example of how off-year elections, even amid scandal, attract little interest. Just as evident is the difficulty to overturn party control in certain legislative districts.

"The two districts are indeed so Democratic that it would be a waste of resources for the Republicans to mount serious opposition," said Terry Jones, political science professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. "Even in the very unlikely event that they could upset the Democrat, they would not be able to be re-elected in November 2010."

Smith stepped down in August after acknowledging that he lied to the FBI in an attempt to conceal his involvement in a campaign mailer attacking U.S. Rep. Russ Carnahan, Smith's opponent in 2004.

After pleading guilty to two counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice, Smith faces more than a year and a half in prison. Brown, who admitted one count of conspiracy in the case, is positioned for a lighter sentence after helping to collect evidence against Smith.

Little of that drama has transferred to Tuesday's election in St. Louis, where only Democrat Joe Keaveny, whose political experience is limited to ward committeeman, is on the ballot to fill the remainder of Smith's term.

Most of the excitement took place earlier and out of public view, when Keaveny and others jostled for the Democratic nomination from members of the party's central committee. (In special elections, party officials, not voters, select the party nominee.)

One independent candidate attempted to join the ballot, but his effort was thwarted by lack of valid petition signatures. A member of the Constitution Party, found not to be a registered city voter, also was ruled ineligible.

It's unclear why Republicans didn't volunteer a contender. While city politics has been dominated by Democrats for decades, a GOP leadership vacuum may play a role.

"It's difficult to get people interested in running for office," said Alderman Fred Heitert, the only Republican elected official at City Hall. "Somebody has to recruit, and that's the job of the city central committee."

Judy Zakibe, who is listed as head of the St. Louis GOP Central Committee, could not be reached for comment.

Lack of competition clinches the seat for Keaveny, though not for long. Only about seven months separate the start of the legislative session and the August 2010 primary, where Keaveny has already said he will compete again for a full four-year term.

That doesn't give Keaveny a lot of time to establish himself, especially considering he'll enter the Senate with no seniority and in the minority party.

"I have to get out to the neighborhood meetings, get out to ward meetings. That's my focus right now. I've got to hear what's on people's minds," Keaveny said. "If I can do that well, I think I can do very well next August."

On the other side of the city line, Republicans are more hopeful about their chances to replace Brown.

"The independent voters are upset," Republican nominee Dan O'Sullivan said. "The most common question I get: Are you going to federal prison soon?"

This is the second time O'Sullivan, 50, has run to represent the district, which includes Clayton, Richmond Heights and Maplewood.

O'Sullivan, who runs a wireless Internet company, lost last year's general election by about 70 percent of the vote to Brown, who spent more than $300,000 on the race — much of it his own money. O'Sullivan spent about $8,100 in that campaign.

This year, with the low voter turnout expected and a short campaign period, the race is up in the air, O'Sullivan said.

"This is the first time in 20 years that this can be a competitive race," he said. "When you're talking about a special election on a day when you expect turnout to be horrible, nobody knows what can happen."

The Democratic nominee, Stacey Newman, is hoping the district maintains its blue streak. The area has been represented by Democrats dating to the late Sue Shear, Brown's great aunt, who served in the state House for more than 25 years beginning in the early 1970s.

After losing to Brown in the 2008 primary, Newman was named director of a new political action committee, Harriett's List, named in honor of former Lt. Gov. Harriett Woods. The group backs progressive women for state office.

Now that Newman has left that post to run for the state House again, Harriett's List has endorsed its first candidate. No surprise: It's Newman. The nod probably will provide only a small boost to Newman's goal of reaching out to Democratic voters, many of whom, Newman has found, supported Brown last year.

"That happens to me daily," Newman, 55, said. "I always find someone who says, 'I talked to him last summer on the very same doorstep and I regret my vote.'"

Even so, Brown's misconduct does not seem to have done much to either discourage or energize Newman's base. While knocking on the doors of targeted voters last weekend, Newman encountered some who appeared indifferent about the race, brusquely accepting her literature. One woman who worked for Brown last election assured Newman she had her vote.

Clayton resident, Mary Vander Linden, 70, said the charges against Smith were actually more shocking than Brown's offense. Though his district was across town, Smith is familiar to many in the Clayton area because of his former position as a political science instructor at Washington University.

But, Vander Linden said, don't expect the transgressions of either to elicit much of a reaction from voters. Blame it on low expectations, she said:

"We don't have great hopes for our politicians."