As the mayoral race in Springfield inches closer to the September preliminary, much of the campaign still has something of an unreality. There are four major declared candidates, each holding office and there are moves worth watching in the money race.
The Springfield City Council remains a sea of relative political calm even as the mayoral race begins to make waves. Fortuitously, Monday’s meeting included three challengers to Mayor Domenic Sarno—two incumbent councilors and a former councilor all of whom support a bill to make a local singer’s tune the state jazz song.
The opposition to Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno has been busy. They have little choice to be otherwise given Sarno’s advantages. It is no surprise that aside from squirreling away campaign funds, Sarno has barely campaigned.
That may be changing. Fitfully but notably, the incumbent has begun to heave himself onto the stump.
Less than a week ago, the Springfield Election Commission flung open its doors to candidates in a year with historic interest, several have already submitted their filings to run. Candidates have until June 6 to turn in signatures but as of this posting nine could not wait that long.
With the sportsbook now open at MGM Springfield, the easiest bet is whether Domenic Sarno will run for reelection.
But what if…what if he bows out?
And then there were three…
On Thursday, Springfield State Representative Orlando Ramos joined the unusually large field of heavy hitters trying to unseat Mayor Domenic Sarno. A two-term rep and before that a four-term ward councilor, Ramos will try to leverage his 10 years in elective office during the race.
As Springfield hurtles toward its most competitive mayoral election in a generation, it may be easy forget the implications down ballot. Not since 1991 have two sitting city councilors given up their seats to run for mayor.
The race for mayor of Springfield shifted into a higher gear with the entry of a third top-tier candidate Jesse Lederman, the Council President and three-term at-large councilor, declared his candidacy in a Tuesday morning press release and video.
SPRINGFIELD—A new calendar year also means a new municipal year here. The only formal order of business in the new year was the installation of the Council President. At-large Councilor Jesse Lederman had already secured the votes for a full term as President in 2023. Yet, this is no ordinary municipal year.
The year 2022 has come and gone with much affecting the City of Springfield. As a part of the commonwealth, nation and world, it felt inflation, the war in Ukraine, national political contests and the state’s own elections.