NORTHAMPTON — A fourth mayoral candidate will appear on the city’s Sept. 28 preliminary election ballot, and a fifth candidate is awaiting final certification, while other races have crystallized following the deadline to turn in nomination papers.
Rosechana Gordon was added to the preliminary ballot for mayor after retrieving her certified nomination papers from the Board of Registrars and returning them to the city clerk’s office.
As of Tuesday, the preliminary ballot will narrow a field of four candidates — Gordon, Shanna Fishel, Roy Martin and Gina-Louise Sciarra — to two for the Nov. 2 general election. The registrars have not yet certified candidate Marc Warner’s nomination papers. He would need to return the certified papers to the city clerk by Aug. 13 to officially join the field in September.
Mayor David Narkewicz is not seeking a new term after serving in the office for 10 years. The deadline to submit nomination papers to the registrars has passed, and no other mayoral candidates are awaiting certification.
A four-way race for two at-large City Council seats would need one more certified candidate in order to be added to the September preliminary ballot. Right now, the candidates are Jamila Gore, David Murphy, Michael Quinlan and Michelle Serra, while Marissa Elkins awaits certification from the registrars.
If Elkins is certified, preliminary voters will narrow a field of five candidates to three for November.
Five candidates are certified to run for Superintendent of Smith Vocational & Agricultural High School, a three-member body that is separate from the School Committee but serves similar functions for Smith Vocational. Thomas Pease and Julie Spencer-Robinson are certified to run against the three longtime incumbents — Michael Cahillane, Michael Cotton and Thomas FitzGerald — while a sixth candidate, Richard Aquadro, would need to return his papers to the city clerk to join the November ballot.
A general election race is confirmed for Ward 4 city councilor after both Jesse Hassinger and Garrick Perry were certified for the ballot.
In Ward 3, David Kris submitted more signatures to the Board of Registrars after his initial nomination papers did not have enough, and the now-certified papers are available for Kris to bring them to the city clerk. If he completes the process, he will run against James Nash, who is seeking reelection, in November.
Quinlan, Ward 1 City Councilor, is giving up his seat to run for an at-large position, and Stanley Moulton’s nomination papers have been certified. If he returns them to the city clerk, he will run against Emily Coffin for the Ward 1 seat in November.
Incumbent city councilors in Wards 2, 5, 6 and 7 are running for reelection unopposed.
There are still no official general election candidates for the Ward 2 or 4 School Committee seats.
Ward 2 candidate Holly Ghazey would need to return her certified nomination papers to the city clerk’s office to be added to the November ballot. A second candidate who took out nomination papers told the Gazette that they decided not to pursue the Ward 2 seat.
Ward 4 candidate Michael Stein would also need to bring his certified papers to the city clerk by Aug. 13 to run in November. A race is still possible in Ward 6, where candidate Margaret Miller is on the ballot while Edwin Burlingame Jr. is awaiting certification from the registrars.
Gwen Agna and Aline Davis are on the November ballot to run against incumbent Roni Gold for two at-large School Committee seats. The top two candidates in November will win the seats.
General election voters will choose between David Murphy and Mary “Mimi” Odgers for Elector Under the Oliver Smith Will — a seat Murphy has held for 20 years. Murphy, also a candidate for at-large City Council, said he has served as elector and city councilor simultaneously in the past, and he would do so again if elected.
Two of the five Forbes Library trustee seats are up for election in November. Russell Carrier is seeking reelection to a four-year term against challengers Deborah Sue Bruce and Stanley Sherer. The top two candidates will win the seats.
Brian Steele can be reached at bsteele@gazettenet.com.