7 candidates ballot for vacant Springfield City Council seat

Candidates in the upcoming preliminary election for the Ward 5 Springfield City Council seat are, clockwise from top left, Lavar Click-Bruce, Nicole D. Coakley, LaMar Cook, Ellen Moorhouse, Michael Lee and Edward Collins. Not pictured is Edward Clinton Lee.

SPRINGFIELD — The slate for the upcoming special election to fill a vacancy on the City Council will feature seven candidates, according to Election Commissioner and City Clerk Gladys Oyola-Lopez.

Oyola-Lopez said the number of candidates is considerable. “I have never seen seven candidates for one ward seat,” she said.

Each of the residents who took out nomination papers and returned them with more than 100 signatures before the June 28 deadline, she said.

They are vying for the Ward 5 council seat vacated with the May 31 resignation of council President Marcus Williams. The candidates are:

  • Lavar Click-Bruce of 13 Annies Way. Click-Bruce is an aide to Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno, the former executive director of the Dunbar Community Center and the basketball coach at Commerce High School
  • Nicole D. Coakley of 145 Bristol St. Coakley is assistant director of service and leadership at Springfield College and a member of the Hampden County Commission on the Status of Women.
  • Edward Collins of 570 Tinkham Road. Collins is a retired representative for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and a member of the Massachusetts Democratic State Committee.
  • Lamar Cook of 114 Lamont St. Cook is hotel director at the University of Massachusetts, head of business operations for the Springfield 413Elite of the American Basketball League and co-founder of the Back to School Brighter initiative.
  • Edward Clinton Green of 128 Navajo Drive. Green previously ran for the Ward 5 council seat in 2019, garnering 26% of the vote in a loss to Williams.
  • Michael Lee of 360 Nassau Drive. Lee, a retired corrections officer and current youth boxing coach, ran unsuccessfully for councilor at large in 2021.
  • Ellen Moorhouse of 48 Undine Circle. Moorhouse is the communications director for the Women’s Funding Network.

With prior council vacancies, the councilors themselves would select a successor to fill the seat. This spring, the state Legislature passed and Gov. Charlie Baker ratified a home rule bill changing the city charter to allow special elections for open council seats.

Oyola-Lopez said she thinks that may have contributed to the interest from candidates.

“This is the first special election of its kind for a ward seat and Ward 5 is a high voter-turnout ward,” she said. “In addition, the winning candidate will have over one year to fill this vacant seat, which I am sure makes running for the seat more attractive.”

The preliminary election is set for Aug. 16. The top two finishers in the preliminary election will go head-to-head in the final election on Sept. 13.

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