Erica Scott-Pacheco pulls nomination papers for Fall River mayoral race

FALL RIVER — Former recall election candidate Erica Scott-Pacheco pulled nomination papers Monday, putting her back in a race against incumbent Jasiel Correia II and School Committee member Paul Coogan in this year’s mayoral election.

Scott-Pacheco, who unsuccessfully ran against Correia and Coogan in the March recall election, said Monday that she was feeling confident ahead of the Sept. 17 preliminary election.

"I'm really enthusiastic," she said. "I think we had an awesome showing in seven weeks when I ran during the recall. I got almost 800 votes. I don't know 800 voters but I'm out there meeting them every day."

Scott-Pacheco is the third candidate to pull papers, making the current field of candidates slimmer compared to her last campaign, which also had her running against City Councilor Joe Camara and former New Bedford school administrator Kyle Riley.

Scott-Pacheco said Monday that she expected this election would be a departure from the recall election, which came about following the criminal charges of tax and wire fraud lodged against Correia last year.

"The structure is entirely different in that we're not having a winner take all. We're having a preliminary and then a general," she said. "We absolutely won't have the same outcome of someone bizarrely being recalled and reelected at the same time without the majority of the vote."

In a press release issued by Scott-Pacheco’s campaign, the “longtime community activist” noted the candidate had “already achieved several victories for our community.” The release cited the city's recent adoption of free breakfast and lunch for all Fall River Public Schools students, a former campaign pledge.

To qualify for the ballot, Scott-Pacheco will have to collect signatures from 300 registered Fall River voters, which she will then have to submit by July 12.

Coogan submitted his collected signatures June 5. Correia’s campaign is collecting signatures after having pulled papers June 21.

When asked why she waited until Monday to pull papers, Scott-Pacheco cited "work obligations." She also noted that she was not concerned about the timetable for collecting signatures.

"In the recall, we had five days and we blew past the 300 signatures required with hard work. We're going to do the same thing again this time," she said.

Of the five mayoral candidates who ran in the recall, Scott-Pacheco received the lowest number of votes at 740, representing roughly 5.5% of the total ballots cast. Scott-Pacheco said she and her campaign have spent the past month regularly door-knocking in Fall River neighborhoods to an enthusiastic response.

"I want to make sure our tax dollars are being wisely spent on services for the people, not on needless stipends for my friends and campaign supporters, and to really get back to the basics with a focus on affordable housing, holding slum lords accountable, and making sure our roads are fixed and maintained so people can go about where they need to," she said.