3 Worcester Candidate Forums Coming Up In August: See When, Where

WORCESTER, MA — Don't know who to vote for in Worcester's upcoming municipal elections? The Worcester Community Labor Coalition has you covered.

The WCLC — which is composed of over a dozen local groups, from the Worcester NAACP to the Carpenters Local 336 — has three candidate forums coming up in August, just in time for the Sept. 5 preliminary.

Each candidate forum will feature a different lineup of candidates, including some who will not be in the preliminary. All the forums will take place at the Boys and Girls Club of Worcester, 65 Boys & Girls Club Way, in Main South.

• Aug. 2, 6 p.m. — School committee candidates
• Aug. 9, 6 p.m. — District city council candidates
• Aug. 16, 6 p.m. — At-large council and mayoral candidates

The three events follow a candidate forum Wednesday at Redemption Rock Brewing hosted by Pride Worcester for at-large council and school committee candidates. At-large candidates Domenica Perrone, Guillermo Creamer, Johanna Hampton-Dance and incumbent At-large candidates Mayor Joseph Petty, Kate Toomey, Khrystian King, Morris Bergman and Thu Nguyen, and School Committee At-large incumbents Sue Mailman and Tracy Novick were present. King, Petty and Creamer are all also running for mayor in 2023, a position held alongside being an at-large councilor.

As a refresher, here are the candidates who will appear in the Sept. 5 preliminary (an (i) indicates an incumbent candidate):

District 1

• David Peterson
• Larry Shetler
• Jenny Pacillo

District 2

• Rob Bilotta
• Phil Palmieri
• Candy Mero-Carlson (i)

District 4

• Luis Ojeda
• Katia Norford
• Ted Kostas
• Maureen Schwab
• Maria Montano

District 5

• Etel Haxhiaj (i)
• Jose Rivera
• Edson Montero

School Committee District E

• Nelly Medina
• Kathy Roy
• Jack Patrick Reed