The Road to 10-1: 52 and Counting

As of Friday, Aug. 15, there were 52 mayoral and City Council candidates verified by the City Clerk and posted as on the ballot for November 4. Another 28 declared candidates have not yet been posted for the ballot. The deadline for ballot applications is Monday, Aug. 18, 5pm.

Several previously undeclared candidates abruptly filed campaign treasurer designations in the last couple of days, and a few of those have already qualified for the ballot. All told, there are 80 potential candidates who have taken the first step – filing campaign treasurer designations – and it’s at least possible a few more will file CTD’s and ballot applications Monday. It takes some time for the Clerk’s staff to verify the candidates’ documentation – including the signatures of registered voters in particular districts – so if there’s a Monday rush, we may not know the final ballot until at least Tuesday.

At least one prominent declared candidate – Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole – confirmed to Newsdesk Saturday that she will indeed be filing her ballot application Monday afternoon. She would become the seventh candidate – and the only woman – to have thus far qualified for the mayoral ballot. The others are Stephen Adler, Ron Culver, Mike Martinez, David Orshalick, Todd Phelps, and Randall Stephens.

Orshalick’s a newcomer, an Allandale resident who worked on the 10-1 campaign; he filed both his CTD and ballot application Friday. Other potential mayoral candidates who have previously filed CTD’s include financial analyst Stephen Fabian, student/artist Nick Lucier, and Trevor Titman (also filed Friday; gratuitous joke goes here).

The lightest race remains District 2; only Delia Garza on the ballot, although Edward “Wally” Reyes is expected to file. District 3 now has nine balloted candidates, with a potential of 14. Late filers include José Quintero (aka “Joe Q”), who opposed Martinez for a Council seat in 2009, and restaurateur (Tamale House East) and attorney Jose Valera – both have made the ballot.

Another newcomer is model and emergency management volunteer Mackenzie Kelly; she makes five balloted candidates in District 6, with another (Pete Phillips) still likely.

Zack Ingraham, a sales and marketing staffer at Legal Zoom, joins six others on the District 7 ballot.

As expected, incumbent Council Member Chris Riley joined his colleague Kathie Tovo on the District 9 ballot; Erin McGann is also declared there, not yet balloted.

Newsdesk will be updating the ballot listings early next week; profiles of all the candidates are available at the Chronicle’s Election page.