The city clerk's office confirmed Friday that six candidates have filed to challenge for Council President Walter Kowalczyk's at-large seat and Council Member Luis Bettencourt's Foundry Row district, even as five other incumbents cruised to unopposed re-election simply by filing paperwork.
City Clerk Norma Feldstein confirmed Friday afternoon, shortly after the 5 p.m. filing deadline, that the council’s at-large seat and its District 5 seat representing Foundry Row are the only two of seven races drawing challengers this cycle. Council members Patricia Yoon, Terrence Boudreaux, Aisha Muhammad, Gary Petrowski and Denise Okafor will each appear on the ballot unopposed, having filed for re-election without a single competing name on the paperwork.
Council President Walter Kowalczyk, the longest-serving member of the council, now faces three challengers for his at-large seat, a race that has drawn unusual attention because it effectively decides who presides over council meetings and casts tie-breaking votes. One of those challengers announced her candidacy weeks ago, arguing the council needed fresher leadership after Kowalczyk’s two decades in office.
A Foundry Row seat under a cloud
The other contested race, for the District 5 seat representing Foundry Row, drew three challengers against incumbent Luis Bettencourt, whose re-election bid is unfolding against the backdrop of an ethics board review into campaign contributions tied to a Foundry Row developer. Bettencourt said the timing was coincidental and that he intends to run on his record of steering the district’s redevelopment. “I’ve represented Foundry Row through its biggest transformation in a generation,” he said. “I’m not going to let a pending review distract from that.”
Among Bettencourt’s challengers is Kezia Odum, a tenant-rights organizer who has criticized the pace of displacement in Foundry Row and said she filed in direct response to the ethics complaint. “Voters in this district deserve a representative who isn’t spending campaign season answering questions from an ethics board,” Anand said. “That’s not a distraction. That’s the whole point of an election.”
Five uncontested seats isn’t necessarily a sign of complacency. Sometimes it just means an incumbent has done enough constituent work that a challenger doesn’t see an opening. But two wide-open races, including the council presidency, means voters this cycle have real decisions to make.
Norma Feldstein, Bellwater City Clerk
Why so few contests
Political observers offered a mix of explanations for the lopsided filing results. Feldstein noted that four of the five uncontested incumbents represent districts that have seen comparatively less turnover or controversy this term, while Bettencourt and Kowalczyk both sit at the center of the city’s most contentious recent debates, from Foundry Row’s redevelopment to the transit corridor votes Kowalczyk has presided over.
Council Member Gary Petrowski, who drew no challenger in Cedar Hollow, said he wasn’t surprised. “I’ve spent this whole term fighting for treatment funding and a transit study my district has waited a decade for,” Petrowski said. “Whether or not I’ve delivered enough yet, people seem to think I’m still fighting the right fight.” Council Member Denise Okafor, also unopposed in West Bellwater, said she suspected turnout would still be strong in her district given interest in the at-large race.
The filed candidates now have until the printed-ballot deadline to withdraw, though Feldstein said withdrawals after filing day are rare. Early voting for the seven-seat council is expected to open in the coming weeks, with mail ballots going out shortly after. Feldstein’s office will finalize the ballot order by lottery drawing next week.
The two challengers running against Kowalczyk besides his previously announced opponent include a retired Bellwater Public Schools administrator and a small-business owner from Vale Avenue, both of whom have said the at-large seat needs a fresh perspective on downtown revitalization and budget oversight. Feldstein said her office expects a busy debate season, with at least two civic groups, including the Bellwater Chamber of Commerce, already planning candidate forums ahead of early voting.
Theresa Nakamura, executive director of the Chamber, said her organization intended to host forums for both contested races rather than take sides. “Our members have a direct stake in who leads this council and who represents Foundry Row,” Nakamura said. “We want voters to hear directly from every candidate before they cast a ballot, not just react to campaign mailers.”
Kowalczyk, addressing reporters briefly after the filing deadline closed, said he welcomed the competition even as he defended his record. “Twenty years in this chamber means twenty years of decisions people can disagree with,” he said. “I’d rather make my case to voters directly than have this decided by whoever simply shows up to file paperwork.” Bettencourt echoed a similar sentiment, saying he looked forward to “a campaign about Foundry Row’s future, not just the last six months of headlines.”