Linda Morad Is Running for Everything Against Everybody [OPINION]

New Bedford City Council President Linda Morad has taken out nomination papers to run for ward councilor, councilor-at-large, and mayor all at the same time.

Linda Morad has been the Ward One City Councilor and she is currently one of five New Bedford elected at-large city councilors. She ran for mayor in 2011 and was defeated in the preliminary election by current Mayor Jon Mitchell and State Representative Tony Cabral.

What is motivating Morad to position herself to run for any of those three positions in city government?

The current field of candidates for mayor is comprised of the incumbent and a group of challengers that will not beat the incumbent. President Morad is certainly the leading challenger to Mayor Mitchell if she decides to run against him, given the current field. He beat her in 2011, but times have changed and she would be a formidable challenger this cycle.

There is little doubt that she would be re-elected to the city council as an at-large candidate in 2019. Incumbent at-large councilors rarely lose their seats in New Bedford. Linda Morad has consistently performed well as a vote gatherer across the city and the list of challengers is small this year in that race.

The Ward One flirtation is a puzzle to me. Why would she want to challenge a sitting incumbent ward councilor who is already facing a preliminary election from other challengers?

There is also a level of confusion and a lack of seriousness in this political gamesmanship. Morad faces the real possibility of damaging her reputation with this type of stunt.

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.