More than a dozen candidates have submitted paperwork to run for mayor of Boston. Credit: Michael Naughton/Metro
City election officials said it could take weeks to determine which Boston mayoral candidates will appear on the September primary ballot.
Tuesday was the deadline for candidates to submit nomination papers with the signatures of at least 3,000 registered voters. Election workers will now verify each signature, which may take until the June 25 deadline.
Two dozen people initially took out nomination papers, according to the Boston Election Department, but only 18 returned them.
Three hopefuls — Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley, City Councilor at Large John Connolly and former state Rep. Martin Walsh — have already been certified.
The Boston Globe reported that 12 others said they had turned in enough signatures to qualify.
The remaining candidates included city councilors Felix Arroyo, Rob Consalvo, Michael Ross and Charles Yancey; ex-school committee member and neighborhood leader John Barros; radio station executive Charles Clemons; Hyde Park resident William Dorcena; businessman John Laing; Dorchester David Portnoy; former state Rep. Charlotte Golar Richie; community activist Bill Walczak; and Roxbury resident David James Wyatt.
The top two vote-getters in the Sept. 24 primary will face off in the general election Nov. 5.
It’s the first open race for the city’s top job since 1983. The jockeying for position began as soon as Boston Mayor Thomas Menino announced in March that he won’t run for a sixth term.
Menino is the longest-serving mayor in U.S history. He took office in 1993, promoted from his position as president of the city council after then-Mayor Ray Flynn became U.S. ambassador to the Vatican.
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