Councilor Enters Mayor's Race, Will Force September Primary

Wes Slate, who has represented much of downtown Beverly on the City Council for the past six years, says he now wants to be mayor.

And on Monday he "pulled papers" for the job and withdrew from the race for reelection to his Ward 2 seat.

This fall's election will be the first in 20 years where incumbent Mayor Bill Scanlon's name will not be on the ballot. He announced in April he will not seek reelection after serving as mayor for 18 of the past 20 years. Scanlon is the city's longest serving mayor in history.

Slate's interest in the job was first reported by the Salem News in early May when the paper said that Slate was "seriously considering" a run for the corner office.

Slate, 63, said Monday he first began considering a run shortly after Scanlon announced he would not seek reelection.

“Over the last couple of weeks, I thought a lot about doing the work and getting the job done,” Slate told Beverly Patch on Monday.

Already in the race is former state representative and former City Council President Mike Cahill, who narrowly lost to Scanlon in 2011, and Euplio “Rick” Marciano, an Army veterans who has staged several unsuccessful campaigns for both mayor and City Council in past years.

When it started to look like the race would include only Cahill and Marciano, Slate said he entered it. He had already told City Clerk Kathy Connolly he intended to seek reelection to his Ward 2 seat, but on Monday he officially withdraw from that race.

"This is a great time for me, my career, my personal life and my time on the council," he said. "I'm serious about it - this is an opportunity to do a lot more; The mayor gets to call a lot of the shots."

If all three candidates return enough certified signatures it would force a preliminary election on Sept. 24 to narrow down the field to two candidates before the general election on 5. The deadline for candidates to pull papers - not just for mayor but also for City Council and School Committee - is Aug. 2.

Slate said that Arthur Powell will be the chairman of his campaign. Powell is a member of the Democratic State Committee who has also served as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention.

Slate said he will hold a campaign kickoff on June 30 at the Cove Community Center.