LAWRENCE - Voters will elect Mayor William Lantigua's successor in the state House of Representatives on June 15, but the timing and expense of the special election drew criticism from lawmakers and potential candidates.
Plans for the special election in the 16th Essex District, along with a May 18 primary election, were announced yesterday by House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop.
Elected to the House in 2003, Lantigua resigned from the seat Feb. 12, after he was elected mayor of Lawrence in November and had held both jobs for 40 days.
DeLeo aides in recent weeks had deflected questions about whether the Speaker would schedule a special vote or allow the seat to remain vacant until the November election.
"It's the Speaker's decision," said David Torrisi, D-North Andover, who represents voters in North Andover and Lawrence. "It doesn't make a lot of sense, but it's his decision."
Cost was the main criticism.
City Elections Coordinator Rafael Tejeda said it will cost $120,000 to hold both the primary in May and the June vote.
"I think it's a very lousy decision, due to the fact that we're going to be spending money that Lawrence doesn't have," said Enrique Matos, who is considering a run as a Republican.
As of yesterday, four potential candidates had pulled papers for the November election in the 16th Essex District: Matos, Marcos Devers, Rafael Gadea and Reynaldo Vasquez.
None had pulled papers for the June special election, according to a representative with Secretary of the Commonwealth William Galvin's office.
The deadline for special election papers to be submitted to city and town clerks is April 6.
The winner of the June election will likely be seated in time for only a month's worth of formal sessions before the 2009-2010 legislative session kicks into a lower gear starting in August.
Lantigua's seat will remain vacant throughout House deliberations on next year's state budget.
"We're going to be paying a representative that's going to be idle from July to January," Matos said.
And with the November election not far off, Torrisi said candidates may be forced to simultaneously collect signatures for both the special election and fall election.
"Whoever wins the special election is going to be campaigning (again) right away," Torrisi said.
The 16th Essex District covers Lawrence's north side: precincts 2 and 4 of ward A, all precincts of wards B and C, precincts 3 and 4 of ward D, and precinct 3 of ward F.
Matos, 57, a safety officer at Lawrence High School, has also worked as a ranger outside the State House since 2001. He ran unsuccessfully for City Council District B in the 1980s and ran on a sticker campaign for the Massachusetts House of Representatives in the 1990s.
Matos came to the Unites States from Cuba on a raft in 1967 and is a graduate of Lawrence High and the now-defunct Andover School of Business.
He said he will make a final decision this weekend on whether to run.
Gadea, 49, who is unenrolled, works as an electrician with the Lawrence Public Works Department.
He ran unsuccessfully for a School Committee from District A last fall. Born in the Dominican Republic, Gadea moved to the United States 28 years ago.
Gadea is a member of the National Guard and in 2007 was stationed in Iraq with the military police.
He also criticized the need for a special election on the basis of cost.
"We don't have the money right now," Gadea said. "I think it's wasting money."
Devers, 59, a Democrat, is a former three-term city councilor and has served as interim mayor of Lawrence. He works as a civil engineer and owns MDJ Engineering & Construction.
Devers is a native of the Dominican Republic. He has taught at Lawrence High and Greater Lawrence Technical School and is a former manager with the Department of Industrial Accidents.
Vasquez, 21, who is unenrolled, is a 2008 graduate of Lawrence High.
This is his third try for public office. Vasquez launched a write-in campaign for mayor just days before last November's election. In 2007, he fell one signature short of the 50 needed to qualify for the District D council race.
Vasquez could not be reached for comment yesterday. Lantigua and Devers did not return phone calls.
Before resigning, Lantigua had been vice chairman of the Joint Committee on Elder Affairs. He also served on the House Committee on Ways and Means and House Committee on Bonding, Capital Expenditures and State Assets.
Material from the State House News Service was used in this report.
