19 City Council candidates qualify for Nov. 8 ballot.

• Position: LOCAL NEWS

Byline: Nick Kotsopoulos

WORCESTER - The Nov. 8 municipal ballot is shaping up to be a rather competitive one, with even more candidates expected to make their way onto it before Tuesday's deadline for filing nomination papers.

As of yesterday, 19 City Council candidates had obtained enough signatures on their nomination papers to qualify for the ballot, as had seven candidates for School Committee.

On the council side, every seat is being contested so far with the exception of the District 2 seat - incumbent Philip P. Palmieri was the only one to qualify for the ballot as of Tuesday.

Two of the five district council races, meanwhile, will likely require a preliminary election in September: Three candidates have already made it onto the ballot in the District 1 and District 3 contests.

A preliminary election for a district council race is held when three or more candidates qualify for the ballot. The purpose of the September runoff is to narrow the field to two for the November municipal election.

At-large council and School Committee candidates, who all run citywide, need to obtain 300 certified signatures to qualify for the ballot, while district council candidates need to obtain 100 signatures.

Candidates have until 5 p.m. Tuesday to take out and turn in their nomination papers to the Election Commission for certification.

City Councilor-at-Large (six seats) - Stephen S. Buchalter, Michael J. Monfredo, Konstantina B. Lukes (incumbent), James A. Kersten, Joseph M. Petty (incumbent), Kathleen M. Toomey (incumbent), Frederick C. Rushton (incumbent)...