Who's Running? Worcester 2023 Election Candidate Filing Period Opens

WORCESTER, MA — The moment that at least 17 percent of Worcester residents have been waiting for (based on voter turnout in the last election) is here: the 2023 election really, truly began on Tuesday.

As of April 4, potential candidates could start pulling papers to run in races for city council, mayor and school committee. After pulling papers, candidates need to collect signatures from registered voters to get on the ballot. Here are the signature requirements for each office:

• District city councilor — 100
• District school committee — 100
• At-Large city council and school committee — 300

And remember, Worcester's election process has the mayoral quirk. At-large city council candidates have to opt out of the mayoral race by Sept. 12, or they will automatically be entered into it. To become mayor, you have to be the top vote-getter in the mayoral race and also win an at-large council seat.

The nomination period will stay open until May 30, but we may not know the official list of candidates until June 8, which is the deadline to withdraw from the election. Worcester's 2023 preliminary election will be held Sept. 5 to whittle down the field of candidates.

But alas, thanks to state campaign finance rules — plus candidates just plain announcing they are running — we already have an idea of who's going to be running for either election or reelection in 2023.

Incumbents

Every sitting school committee member will seek reelection in 2023 under a new system comprised of two at-large seats and six district seats. See the new map here.

Members Tracy Novick, Sue Mailman and Laura Clancey have all said they will run for the at-large seats. Members Jermaine Johnson, Jermoh Kamara and Molly McCullough will all run for district seats.

On the city council side, Mayor Joseph Petty Jr., At-Large Councilor Moe Bergman, District 5 Councilor Etel Haxhiaj, District 3 Councilor George Russell and At-Large Councilor Kate Toomey have all said they are running. District 2 Councilor Candy Mero-Carlson and At-Large Councilors Thu Nguyen, Khrystian King and Donna Colorio area all almost certainly returning this year.

The only two councilors definitely not running in 2023: District 1 Councilor Sean Rose and District 4 Councilor Sarai Rivera.

Challengers

There are plenty of people who are gunning for seats on city council, but so far only one declared non-incumbent for a new school committee seat.

Gabe Rodriguez, who works at the gang rehabilitation and re-entry program Legendary Legacies, announced in February that he'll run for the District E school committee seat, which covers south and western Worcester along the Leicester, Auburn and Millbury borders.

Here are the city council challengers who have registered campaigns with the state. Although these registrations are a good indication of who might run, each candidate still has to pull papers and collect signatures to actually get on the ballot.

Robert Bilotta

Bilotta is the former chair of the Worcester Commission on Disabilities, now called the Accessibility Advisory Commission. He has also been a prominent voice in the formation of Worcester's new inclusionary zoning policy, advocating for a minimum number of affordable units in new developments.

Johanna Hampton-Dance

The Union Hill resident attempted to unseat Mero-Carlson in the 2021 election, but fell short by about 260 votes. She'll attempt to pick up an at-large seat in 2023.

Ted Kostas

So far, Kostas is the only newcomer who's a registered Republican. His OCPF filing does not say which seat he'll seek, but his address is in District 4.

Maydee Morales

Morales is a longtime social services worker in Worcester, most recently managing the emergency homeless shelter at Blessed Sacrament church off Park Avenue. She's running for an at-large seat.

Katia Norford

Norford owns Carlito's Barbershop in Main South with her husband. She's also a District 4 resident, which would make her a potential candidate to replace Rivera. Her filing does not indicate which seat she would run for.

Jenny Pacillo

So far the only candidate running for Rose's District 1 seat, Pacillo is pretty well known in Worcester, whether for tweeting about local issues, running the Community Preservation Act ballot question campaign last year or working on Petty's 2022 state senate campaign. Pacillo took her son and daughter along to pull papers on Tuesday.

Domenica Perrone

Perrone works as the director of community engagement at Clark University, and was named one of the 40 under 40 in 2022 by the Worcester Business Journal. She'll seek an at-large seat in 2023

Jose Rivera

Rivera, a boxing champion, launched his campaign on Feb. 23. He was questioned by the Worcester Telegram about his views on vaccines and the transgender community — and by At-Large Councilor Thu Nguyen, the first nonbinary elected official in the state. Rivera's campaign manager has said the candidate is "pro-freedom" and in favor of "my body, my choice."

Maureen Schwab

Schwab lives in the Green Island neighborhood, which means she could also be in line to run for Rivera's District 4 seat. Schwab is also the host of the WCCA TV show "Close to Home."