The City Elections Commission held a lottery on Friday afternoon to draw the positions for the Sept. 14 Preliminary election – including the position for the eight mayoral candidates and the 17 at-large candidates.
Drawing out of a little gold tumbler, reminiscent of a basement church bingo session, Election Commission Chair Eneida Tavares first drew for the office of mayor, where eight candidates have qualified for the ballot even though only five are routinely talked about.
One candidate, State Rep. Jon Santiago, qualified for the ballot and was drawn for the 6th position, but has already halted his campaign and is likely to officially withdraw from the race and take his name off the ballot.
The top of the ballot and the last spot on the ballot are two of the more time-honored and preferable positions amongst campaign insiders, and the top spot on the Mayoral Preliminary went to Councilor AnnissaEssaibi George.
The Essaibi George campaign said they were happy with the ballot position, but are more excited to keep talking with voters ahead of the Preliminary.
“We are excited about our position on the ballot and even more excited to continue connecting with the voters across the city who will cast their ballots on September 14,” read a statement from the campaign.
The last spot on the ballot went to John Barros.
The Preliminary will whittle the eight candidates down to two for the final election in November.
The order on the September ballot for mayor will be:
•Councilor AnnissaEssaibi George, Dorchester
•Richard Spagnuolo, North End
•Councilor Andrea Campbell, Mattapan
•Councilor and Acting Mayor Kim Janey, Roxbury
•Councilor Michelle Wu, Roslindale
•State Rep. Jon Santiago (who is out of the race), South End
•Robert Capucci, East Boston
•John Barros, Dorchester
The longer part of the afternoon was choosing the ballot position for the 17 at-large Council candidates that made the ballot. The 17 will be narrowed down to eight for the November election. The top four vote-getters in November will receive at-large seats on the Council.
The order is as follows:
•Carla Monteiro, Dorchester
•Althea Garrison, Dorchester
•Bridget Nee-Walsh, South Boston
•Said Abdikarim, South End
•RuthzeeLouijeune, Hyde Park
•Kelly Bates, Hyde Park
•David Halbert, Mattapan
•Councilor Julia Mejia, Dorchester
•Roy Owens, Sr., Roxbury
•Nick Vance, Hyde Park
•Councilor Michael Flaherty, South Boston
•Jon Spillane, Beacon Hill
•James Colimon, Roslindale
•Erin Murphy, Dorchester
•Donnie Palmer, Allston
•Alexander Gray, Jamaica Plain •DomingosDarosa, Hyde Park