Many were called, few will be chosen
While 44 people pulled nomination papers for city council seats, just 27 had turned in the requisite number of signatures for their races by Tuesday afternoon.
And then, there were 27.
Of the 44 people who filed papers stating their intention to run for City Council seats in this year’s election, 17 had not filed the requisite number of signatures by Tuesday afternoon, including incumbent at-large Councilor Henry Santana.
The deadline for submitting signatures was Tuesday at 5 p.m., so Santana and other stragglers may yet be certified. If not, the field of 18 at-large candidates will shrink to seven. Of the 17 candidates for the soon-to-be vacated District 7 seat, just eight had signatures submitted by Tuesday afternoon.
Of the fourteen candidates who pulled nomination papers for mayor, just incumbent Michelle Wu and challenger Josh Kraft turned in the 3,000 signatures required for that seat.
At-large candidates were required to turn in signatures of 1,500 registered Boston voters. Those seeking district seats on the Council were required to turn in a more modest 200.
Election Department officials are still combing through the sheets of signatures submitted by candidates. Some who turned in papers Tuesday afternoon may yet have enough signatures to make the ballot. Others, who turned in signatures at the last moment, may yet be struck from the ballot.
If a voter is not registered in Boston or if a voter has signed the papers of another candidate running for the same district seat and the other candidate turned in their papers first, the signature does not count toward the requisite number of signatures needed.
Santana, a former Wu staffer who’s widely seen as a loyalist to the mayor, appeared to receive a last-minute boost from the Wu campaign this year, with a text message sent to supporters urging them to help him collect signatures.
