Carbondale lists five council candidates, no mayoral filers

Carbondale reported no mayoral nomination petitions received on Oct. 23 and listed five City Council candidates. The city notice names Dr. Ryan J. Reed Sr., LaCaje Elijah Hill, Nancy R. Maxwell, Yahaira L. Vargas and Jasper Futch, although its introduction describes the list as “four.”

An earlier City Clerk snapshot, reproduced by WDBX, showed four council petitioners as of Oct. 19. The city gives Futch’s filing date as Oct. 21. At 9:10 a.m. CDT on Oct. 26, the filing period remained open, with a city-set deadline of 5 p.m. that day.

Does the five-person council list mean there will be no primary? No. Five candidates were eight short of the city’s 13-candidate council threshold, but additional filings could change the total before the deadline. The city says a primary would be held Feb. 23, 2027, if at least five candidates file for mayor or 13 for council. If triggered, it would narrow the field to two mayoral and/or six council candidates. The city lists Oct. 27 through Nov. 2 as the objection period and April 6, 2027, as the consolidated election date.