Nomination papers to run for political office became available yesterday, and it promises to be an interesting season. Day One already brought some surprises. 

As of Monday afternoon, there are three candidates who have taken out nomination papers to be the next Mayor of New Bedford. This will be the first election for a mayor who will serve the expanded four-year term as the chief executive of the city. With three candidates in the race, there will be a preliminary election in October before the final election in November.

The three candidates are Michael Janson, Russell Dearing, and Iean Morgan.

Everyone is familiar with Michael Janson in the city. He has run for numerous offices over the years and this could be the year the voters finally take a shine to him. He is hedging his options by also taking out papers to run for an at-large city council seat. He will have to decide which seat he ultimately runs for before the August 16 deadline to file the papers.

Russell Dearing is better known on social media as "Buc Arruda" or "Bill Ding" in the local area. He has appeared on my show as "Bill Ding" to promote the concept of opening "safe" injection sites in the city for intravenous narcotic addicts. I can't tell you for sure if he was being serious or not with his proposal.

Iean Morgan is a musician who moved to the city a few years ago and works as a cell phone sales associate at a local store. This will be his first time running for office in New Bedford.

We are all looking forward to seeing who will next join the increasingly crowded field for the first four-year term as the mayor of the Whaling City.

Chris McCarthy is the host of The Chris McCarthy Show on 1420 WBSM New Bedford. He can be heard weekdays from 10 a.m. to noon. Contact him at chris.mccarthy@townsquaremedia.com and follow him on Twitter @Chris_topher_Mc. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the author. 

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