Mahoney can renew council campaign; Family health issue takes McCarthy out.

Byline: Nick Kotsopoulos

WORCESTER - The field for the six at-large seats on the 11-member City Council has a new look, as one candidate has dropped out while another is back in.

William J. McCarthy, who had advanced to the Nov. 6 municipal election by virtue of his 11th-place finish in last Tuesday's preliminary election, informed city election officials yesterday that he is withdrawing from the race, citing family considerations.

With Mr. McCarthy out of the at-large field, it means that John J. Mahoney, who placed 13th in the preliminary, has a new lease on his political life and is back in the race. Only the top 12 at-large finishers in the preliminary made it to the November ballot.

Under a provision of the city charter, a person nominated at a preliminary election may withdraw his/her name for future consideration as a candidate by notifying local election officials within five business days of the preliminary, according to City Clerk David J. Rushford. He said the nominee shall then be replaced by the candidate with the next highest number of votes in the preliminary.

Because Mr. Mahoney had the highest number of votes among those at-large candidates who did not advance to the November election, Mr. Rushford said, he qualifies to re-enter the race. The clerk notified Mr. Mahoney of his good fortune yesterday afternoon.

"I'm definitely running," Mr. Mahoney said in a telephone interview last night. "It feels great to be back in it because I miss the excitement of the race. I met a lot of terrific people while I was out campaigning, and I look forward to meeting a lot more people in the coming weeks. I'm really excited about this."

In making his first bid for public office, Mr. Mahoney narrowly missed making the cutoff for the November ballot, finishing 75 votes behind William S. Coleman III, who captured the 12th spot.

While conceding that the top four finishers in the preliminary - Gary Rosen, Konstantina B. Lukes, Kathleen M. Toomey and Frederick C. Rushton - will likely be the top vote-getters in November, he believes the final two at-large seats are very much up for grabs.

"The top four will be tough to beat, but as far as I'm concerned, the other two spots will be wide open," Mr. Mahoney said. "The great thing is that I can use the results from the preliminary to see where I did good and where I will need to do more work. I think I can finish higher (in November) than I did in the preliminary."

Mr. McCarthy said he has had to drop out because his father-in-law has health problems that arose in the past few days. Because his wife will have to spend more time with her father, he said, it will make it difficult for him to spend as much time out on the campaign trail as he would like.

"I simply wouldn't be able to dedicate the necessary time to the election or campaigning," Mr. McCarthy said last night. "I care very much about this city and the voters, and if I can't give them a 100 percent effort, I feel it is best that I withdraw. I wouldn't want to disappoint the voters by giving them anything less that the 100 percent they deserve."

Mr. McCarthy said he was encouraged by his 11th-place finish in the preliminary. In the campaign leading up to that election, he said he had knocked on about 5,100 doors and ended up receiving, 3,111 votes.

In another election matter, the field for the mayor's race will finally be set at 5 p.m. today.

Under the city charter, all candidates running as at-large council candidates are also automatically candidates for mayor. If they do not wish to run for mayor, they must notify the Election Commission that they are withdrawing from that race by today's deadline.

Mr. Rushford said Mr. McCarthy is the only person to submit formal notice of withdrawal from the mayor's race. But, he added, several of the at-large candidates have informally told him they also intend to withdraw as well.

The clerk said the only three sure candidates at this time are Mrs. Lukes, the incumbent, Mr. Rushton and Mr. Coleman.

Councilor-at-Large Gary Rosen, who was the top vote-getter in the preliminary, is holding a press conference at 4:30 p.m. today to announce whether he will run for mayor. Meanwhile, Grace C. Ross, who finished an impressive sixth in the preliminary, will be holding a press conference at 10:30 this morning to make a similar announcement.

"There are still serious issues that need to be addressed now, such as the fact that the city budget is still in deficit," Ms. Ross said. "All the sitting city councilors, mayoral candidates or not, need to remember they are responsible for staying focused on serious issues that need to be addressed, not just their own campaigns. As someone with very strong consensus-building skills, I am very concerned that voters pay attention not just to who they may like as a person but also who can bring the council together as a constructive force of change that this city not only needs but deserves."

NAME: WORCESTER CITY COUNCIL