AUGUSTA – Republican and Democratic leaders at the State House each believe they are well positioned to claim majorities in the House and Senate this fall.

They base their assessments on the number and quality of legislative candidates filing nomination papers with the Secretary of State’s Office last week.

This year’s deadline for party candidate filings fell on Wednesday, which also happened to be Maine Statehood Day.

Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap announced that 412 individuals had filed as candidates for the 186 seats in the 123rd Legislature.

Of the total, 78 are running for the 35-member Senate and 334 for the 151-member House. The filings did not include independent nonparty, or unenrolled, candidates who do not face primaries and therefore have until June 1 to file their petitions with the state.

“Such a strong show of filings is a heartening reminder of the importance of democracy on this of all days, the anniversary of Maine’s admission to the union,” Dunlap, an amateur historian, said Wednesday.

Both the House and Senate have experienced their fair share of party switching this year.

While Democratic control of the Senate was never in doubt, activities in the House left Democrats with a plurality of seats. They actually began the session with a three-seat majority.

Next year, according to House Majority Leader Glenn Cummings, D-Portland, there will be no doubts about who holds the most seats.

“We feel very confident,” he said. “We feel like we have very, very strong horses and, when looking at the Republican slate, we know a good percentage of their candidates are not significant.”

Cummings’ confident predictions may play well among Democrats, but Republican leaders claim Democrats have little to be proud of as this year’s session wraps up.

In fact, Republican candidates plan to use what they perceive as “the failed policies” of a Democratic majority in the Legislature and Democratic Gov. John Baldacci to their advantage on the campaign trail.

“We’re pretty proud of our slate of candidates,” said Assistant House Republican leader Joshua Tardy of Newport. “We think we’ve got candidates who will be competitive in all the races and equally confident that we will be able to elect a majority.”

The Green Independent Party, which holds a single legislative seat in the House, managed to attract candidates for 12 legislative races this year, down from more than 20 two years ago. Two of the party’s candidates are seeking Senate seats, with the remainder vying for slots in the House.

All of the party’s candidates are running in southern Maine, and half are competing in Portland alone.

Nancy Allen, spokeswoman for the Green Independent Party, said last year’s large number of candidates was stimulated by Bangor native Pat LaMarche’s national vice-presidential candidacy.

“This year many Greens are focusing on antiwar efforts rather than on party politics,” Allen said. “But the involvement of young people is the strength of the Green Party, and it is exciting to see. Watch for Green registration in Maine to go up again with Pat’s campaign [for governor]. We are slowly and carefully building our base.”

Senate President Beth Edmonds, D-Freeport, and Senate Republican leader Paul Davis of Sangerville shared similar thoughts about winning a majority in November.

Remarking that she didn’t “want to sound cocky” about the elections, Edmonds said she felt “pretty good” about her party’s candidates, whom she described as “eager, ready to work and pumped up.”

Davis countered that Republicans had “an excellent chance” of winning the most seats because of their “superb” candidates who will “run good campaigns.”

“I think we could take 20 seats, probably,” he said.

What remained a mystery Friday was exactly how many of each party’s slate were, in reality, what is known as “paper candidates,” or place-holders designated to keep the party’s candidate slot alive until April 14.

Under Maine law, candidates have 60 days before the June 13 primary to withdraw. “Paper candidates” provide the parties with an additional month to find an actual candidate who is nominated by party leaders in the particular district.

Afraid of revealing their hands to their opponents, none of the legislative leaders would specify how many “paper candidates” they had.

“I will say we have remarkably few, fewer than I’ve ever seen,” Cummings said.

For a complete list of candidates, visit the Web site of the Maine Secretary of State’s Office: www.maine.gov/sos/ and a home page headline will direct you.