By Josh Resnek
With two weeks to go, candidates for the city’s primary races are ramping up their campaigning while at the same time staring at the calendar as the days pass by.
September 19 is looming closer and larger with each passing day.
These next two weeks are traditionally the busiest for all those running if they wish to make an impact and gain a spot on the Election Day ballot.
There are four primary races – 2 city council contests and 2 school committee battles.
The city council at-large race includes 13 candidates.
This is a difficult race to handicap as there are so many first-timers pitted against incumbents and one candidate, Guerline Alcy, who has come close to getting herself elected citywide once before.
Citywide races require a great deal of active outreach to spread the word about a candidate in all the city’s 6 wards.
To date, the sign wars that sometimes dominate primaries and elections have not materialized for most of the at-large candidates.
While signs do not vote, signs often tell the tale of popularity and reflects having resources to run citywide
The Ward 4 council contest remains an imponderable with Councilor Jimmy Tri Le trying to remain in his seat with Holly Garcia and Kit Bridge breathing down his neck.
The Ward 6 School Comittee contest finds Joe D’Onofrio coming on strong against Daniel Skerritt, former school committeeman Attorney Thomas Abruzzese and Pattiann Scalesse.
Time will tell.