The list of potential candidates for the November mayor and City Council election continues to swell as 18 have now picked up the official Rockville packet of information on the race.
Those who pick up the papers are generally interested in exploring a run for office or are working as treasurers or advisors to candidates, but that does not mean they will become official candidates.
The list includes Mayor Susan R. Hoffmann and all the council members except John Britton.
Hoffmann could face two challengers in the race for mayor.
W. Thomas Curtis, who lives in King Farm, and Councilwoman Phyllis Marcuccio, who picked up packets for both mayor and council, but said she is weighing a run for mayor and could make a decision this week.
"I've been talking to folks at every opportunity," Marcuccio said. "Most of the response I'm getting is [they] don't want to lose [me] on the council. So I'm still not sure. I'm hoping to have a meeting with my supporters in the next [few days]."
For council, 15 others have picked up papers. Two of those who picked up packets, Michael Berman and Michael Sweet, are listed as treasurers for other candidates.
Among the more recent residents to pick up packets are Bridget Newton, vice chair of the West End Citizens Association's Committee on Beall's Grant II; civic activist Joseph Jordan; and Jose Linan, a native of Lima, Peru, where he was a police officer, who said he has helped former mayor and county executive Douglas M. Duncan with Latino outreach during his campaigns.
The other potential candidates who picked up council packets are Historic District Commission Chairman Max van Balgooy, former council candidates Carl Henn and Theodric "Theo" Anderson, city Compensation Commission member Thomas Moore and Richard Montgomery High School student Waleed Ovase.
Mark Pierzchala, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor against Hoffmann in 2007, as well as East Rockville resident and political newcomer Craig Trapper Martin and longtime city Compensation Commission member Virginia Onley, have announced their intentions to run for a seat on the council in November.
Candidates for the mayoral and four council seats must be at least 18 years old, registered voters and have resided in Rockville for one year preceding the election. They must be nominated by a petition signed by 100 voters registered in the city, which must be submitted to the Board of Supervisors of Elections by the Sept. 4 filing deadline.
Election Day is Nov. 4.