Potential candidates begin process to fill empty council seat in PVD

With the ink not even dry on Luis Aponte’s resignation letter from the Providence City Council, candidates are already beginning to come out and take a shot at the now empty seat in Ward 10.

Candidates know they need to act fast, and with that special election looming in the next three months, two hopefuls are beginning to set up their campaign finances with the Board of Elections so they can begin accepting donations.

Aponte resigned from office as part of a plea agreement, where prosecutors say the longtime Democrat misused his campaign finances to pay for personal expenses.

The winner of the special election will hold the seat in Ward 10 for the remainder of Aponte’s term, which runs through 2023.

One of those candidates is Monica Huartez, a Democrat who began the process of running at the Board of Elections Wednesday.

“It’s hurt tremendously. You know, our morale is very low in the neighborhood and that’s probably one of the worst things you can do, hurt the morale of the people,” she said. “He goes and gets in trouble with the law. It’s really bad for us.”

Huartez tells ABC 6 that it’s now time to look forward to new leadership in the ward.

“This gives an opportunity to start fresh and you leave all the people in the past,” she said.

According to the Board of Elections, another Democrat named Natalia Rosa Sosa has also begun the process to fill the vacant seat.

So far, no Republicans have thrown their hat in the ring just yet, but David Talan, Co-chair of the Providence Republican Party, said they have a person in mind to run.

Talan said there’s plenty for a candidate to run on in the city and the ward.

And although the ward has been led by Aponte for two decades, Talan believes voters will go red this time around.

“Our candidate for state representative has gotten over 45 percent of the vote the last two times out,” Talan said. “It is a difficult ward.”

The Providence City Council will hold a special meeting Friday at 5:00 p.m. to accept Aponte’s resignation, officially beginning the special election process.