No Republicans in 14th Worcester Race

Yesterday was the deadline to submit signatures for the 14th Worcester seat being vacated by James B. Leary, who is now Lieutenant Governor Tim Murray's chief of staff. The primary election is scheduled for March 20th, and the general will be on April 17th. I called Worcester city hall this morning to get a list of the candidates who have submitted their nominating papers. They are Democrats Phil Palmieri, Jim O'Day, Paul Shea and Tammy Vescera, and unenrolled candidate Joseph Cariglia. Palmieri is the City Councilor for District 2 of Worcester and according to his official bio, a "retired probation officer with the Massachusetts Juvenile Justice system and a real estate developer." O'Day lives in the West Boylston part of the district and is a regional VP with the SEIU local 509. Shea is the owner of Paul J. Shea Advertising Specialties of Shrewsbury, according to the Worcester Telegram-Gazette and I couldn't confirm much about the other two. If the information I got from the Worcester Election Commission is complete, there will be no Republican candidate running in the special election.

Worcester Magazine has this report from the field:

It.s a hard race to judge financially, with pre-primary reports not due until March 12, and the candidates haven.t exactly been making a lot of noise outside their immediate circles. O.Day picked up the Neighbor-To-Neighbor endorsement, Shea.s lawn signs have begun to appear in the neighborhoods, and Palmieri has put together a good-sized war chest as of the end of 2006 to go along with the non-office-specific "Palmieri" bumper stickers (and he.s rumored to be making an official announcement in the next day or two), but beyond that, it.s been too quiet for a race this short.

There's another special election scheduled for the spring, the race to fill Rep. Robert Coughlin's seat in the 11th Norfolk District, which includes all of Dedham and Westwood and part of Walpole. The primary for that election will be April 17th (the same day as the 14th Worcester's general) and the general will be held on May 15.