This year’s municipal election promises a mix of contested races, as well as several incumbents running unopposed on the City Council and School Committee.
The deadline to submit nomination papers and signatures to the City Clerk for the Nov. 7 municipal election was on Tuesday. City Solicitor Cheryl Watson Fisher said those signatures will be certified on or before the August 22 deadline.
If all signatures are certified, there looks to be preliminary elections on Sept. 26 in District 4 for City Councilor and in District 7 for School Committee.
In District 4, current Councilor Tanairi Garcia is running alongside current Licensing Commission Chair Marnie MacAlpine and Adriel Rodriguez.
Due to redistricting, Garcia is not technically a candidate for reelection, since she currently represents District 7. Longtime current District 4 Councilor Enio Lopez is not running for reelection this year.
The other potential primary for School Committee in District 7 features candidates Lucia Henriquez, Loren Sokol, and Celeste Williams.
There are five candidates running for three seats as Councilors-at-Large.
The only incumbent in the at-large race is Council President and dean of the council Leo Robinson.
However, the other four candidates are all familiar faces in City politics, as School Committee chair Kelly Garcia, School Committee member Roberto Jimenez-Rivera, former Councilor Yamir Rodriguez, and local attorney and former candidate Olivia Walsh are all vying for an at-Large seat.
Current at-Large councilors Damali Vidot and Brian Hatleberg did not take out nomination papers for this year’s election. Vidot served several terms as Council President, and Hatleberg was selected to fill the seat of former Councilor Roy Avellaneda. At the time, Hatleberg said he would not see a full term on the council.
In District 1, incumbent Councilor Todd Taylor is running unopposed.
In District 2, incumbent Melinda Vega is facing a challenge from Constantinos Boussios. In District 3, incumbent Norielez DeJesus is running unopposed.
Lisa Santagate is running unopposed in District 5 to fill the seat currently held by Judith Garcia. Garcia did not run for reelection so she could devote her time to her position as state representative for Chelsea.
In District 6, longtime incumbent Giovanni Recupero is running unopposed. In District 7, Manuel Teshe is unopposed in his first run for public office in the city.
District 8 Councilor Calvin Brown, who survived a close election two years ago, is running unopposed this year.
In other School Committee races, Katherine Cabral is running unopposed for an at-Large position, incumbent Shawn O’Regan is running unopposed in District 1 and Sarah Neville is running unopposed in District 2.
In District 3, incumbent Naomi Zabot is being challenged by Jonathan Gomez-Pereira, and in District 4, the candidates are Mayra Balderas and Zaida Ismatul. District 6 incumbent Ana Hernandez and District 8 incumbent Yessenia Alfaro are both running unopposed.