With the deadline fast approaching for municipal election nominees to declare their candidacy, the Niagara-on-the-Lake race is heating up.

A week ago, it looked like there might not be enough candidates to fill the eight councillor positions.

Now, there’s a race, though still a far cry from the 25 people who ran for council four years ago. 

Candidates have until tomorrow, Friday, Aug. 19, at 2 p.m., to file their nominations with the clerk’s office at the town hall.

Any registered candidate who now wants to withdraw from the Oct. 24 race must do so by the same deadline.

Niagara-on-the-Lake voters will cast ballots for lord mayor, town councillor, regional councillor and school trustee. 

Candidates are not permitted to file nomination papers electronically and must schedule an appointment with the clerk’s department.

Incumbent Lord Mayor Betty Disero is facing a challenge from regional Coun. Gary Zalepa and retired businessman Vaughn Goettler, who filed his nomination papers Wednesday.

Couns. Allan Bisback, Gary Burroughs, Wendy Cheropita, Sandra O’Connor and Erwin Wiens are all seeking re-election.

They are joined in the race by Tim Balasiuk, Adriana Cater, Alistair Harlond, Maria Mavridis, John McCallum, Richard Mell and Nick Ruller.

Couns. Norm Arsenault, Clare Cameron and John Wiens are not running again.

With Zalepa running for mayor, former councillor Paolo Miele and former mayor Pat Darte have registered for the regional council race.

As of Wednesday, seven candidates were running for four NOTL-St. Catharines trustee seats on the District School Board of Niagara.

These include incumbents Kate Baggott, Alex Bradnam, Lora Campbell and Jonathan Fast.

Challengers so far are: Christine Lewis, Donald MacDougall and Kris Vreck.

Two trustee seats for NOTL-St. Catharines are available on the Niagara Catholic District School Board but no candidate information has been released yet.

Melinda Chartrand is the only candidate running for the region’s French Catholic board, the Conseil Scolaire Catholique MonAvenir. 

Potential candidates who have yet to declare their intent to run must submit at least 25 endorsements from potential electors as part of their application when they visit town hall to register.

They must also provide valid identification, a declaration of qualification, a nomination filing fee and a completed copy of the nomination paper.

The filing fee is $100, except for the mayoral candidates, who must pay $200.

Third-party advertisers interested in supporting one candidate over another are expected to register with the town clerk by Oct. 21.

As part of their application, they must fill out a declaration of qualifications in addition to their notice of registration.

Advanced polling will take place Oct. 8 at St. Davids Public School, Oct. 12 and 19 at the town offices on Four Mile Creek Road and Oct. 15 at the NOTL Community Centre.

The new town council will begin its term Nov. 15.