Open Season on Municipal Candidates

Corey Genest was the first candidate through the door at City Hall, there just before 8 a.m. to file as a candidate for Ward 1 Alderman.

"This is something I've wanted to do since high school," Genest said. "I want to serve my town, and you only have one home town."

Other early-bird filers included three candidates for Alderman-at-Large, Diane Sheehan, Dan Moriarty and David Deane; Ward 2 Alderman Richard Dowd; Ward 3 candidate Paul Shea; Paul Bergeron for Board of Public Works; Diane Griffin for Ward 3 clerk; and George Farrington for Board of Education.

[Click here to link to the City Clerk's page, and then click on "List of Candidate Filings" for a real time update on who has filed.]

Moriarty lingered longest, as his petition signatures were tallied -- officially 818, although he was shooting for 820. He declined a recount.

He only needed 50 to file.

But Moriarty, currently serving in Ward 9, is leaving nothing to chance. A notorious numbers guy, his personal attention to calculated risk and the odds of winning an at-large seat were made clear by his hefty pile of signatures.

"I need 4,000 to 6,000 votes. I checked the last election, and the Mayor had 6,000; (Jim) Donchess had 4,500," Moriarty said.

And yes, he's done the math.

"For 6,000 votes, that's an average of 1.5 persons per home, times 4,000 doors. That's 200 hours of door-to-door, at about six to 10 signatures per hour," Moriarty said.

Although it's not the most efficient process, he said, it's the only way to go deep with constituents, and learn what the true issues are in the city.

Candidates have until Sept. 6 at 5 p.m. to file. City Clerk Paul Bergeron (not to be confused with candidate Bergeron) will post new filings daily on the city website until the close of the filing period.

Once all the candidates are verified, names will be drawn Sept. 9 for ballot position, as per the city's election process.