David Taber
EGLESTON SQ.—The dates for a Special Election to replace ousted District 7 Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner will be Tuesday, Feb. 15 for the preliminary election and Tuesday March 15—coincidentally, the Ides of March—for the final.
District 7 mostly covers Roxbury, but also includes Egleston Square.
Former District 7 City Councilor Chuck Turner was ousted from his position at a Dec. 1 City Council hearing, following his felony conviction on charges of public corruption and lying to federal agents. Turner has consistently maintained his innocence.
The special election dates were set at the Dec. 15 meeting of the Boston City Council. City Councilor Charles Yancey, the one councilor to vote against Turner’s ouster, was also the sole dissenting vote on the special election dates, Amy Derjue, spokesperson for City Council President Mike Ross, told the Gazette in a phone interview Dec. 15.
The Ides of March is known historically as a politically significant date because on that day in 44 AD, Julius Caesar, the first emperor of Rome, was assassinated.
Derjue told the Gazette that the election date was chosen to avoid having the election conflict with vacation week at Boston Public Schools.
Boston City Council elections are nonpartisan, so all of the candidates would face each other in the preliminary vote, which will only be held if more than two candidates run for the seat.
Potential candidates will need to collect 191 signatures to qualify for the preliminary ballot. Election papers are now available from the City of Boston Election Department and must be returned by Dec. 30, Gerry Kuddyer of the Election Department told the Gazette.
The District 7 race is the second Special Election race in JP in recent months. Last month, Jamaica Plain voters helped elect District 6 City Councilor Matt O’Malley, who replaced John Tobin after Tobin resigned to take another job. District 6 covers most of JP.