NORTHAMPTON – After one City Council at-large candidate and two candidates for mayor were eliminated through the preliminary election, several of the remaining candidates sat down to discuss the next steps for their campaigns.

In the mayoral race, current City Council President Gina-Louise Sciarra and business owner Marc Warner square off for the chance to become the next mayor following the departure of current Mayor David Narkewicz.

With the field narrowed down to two, Warner said in an interview he hopes more people take the opportunity to see what he has to offer.

I am delighted, and I am thankful to get the chance to keep playing, I have enjoyed the campaign. I hope now that there are only two candidates, people will take a closer look at what I have to offer and who I am. I think they will see if they give me a fair mind, I am the best choice for a well-run city,” he said.

While only 25 percent of registered voters in Northampton voted in the preliminary, Warner said he hopes the larger population that did not make its way to the polls recognizes his potential to become the next mayor of Northampton.

“I am hoping that the 75 percent of registered voters who haven’t voted, who I suspect aren’t as actively politically affiliated than the 25 percent of people who did come out, will come out and recognize that I have a good understanding of the role of the mayor, a good understanding of the management steps needed to ensure the city is providing the right levels of service and meeting the priorities of residents and businesses,” he said.

Warner said the votes he received during the preliminary reflect the areas he campaigned most aggressively.

“I think it is a reflection of the areas where I campaigned most aggressively, there were some wards where there are a lot of apartments, so I was not able to knock on a lot of those doors, but where they were available, I took advantage of the availability of those doors and I think they responded positively,” he said.

Going forward Warner said he will use the same techniques that he did in the run up to the preliminary election in a larger scale.

“It will be some of the same techniques I have used in the campaign up until now including more knocking on doors, more speaking at forums, more speeches with any community groups that will invite me, more advertisement, and I hope people will give me a fair hearing and through that outreach I think my message will resonate well with them and it will be much less of a blowout or complete change in fortunes,” he said.

While she did not respond to a request for an interview, Sciarra said in a post on her campaign Facebook page she was thankful for everyone who voted for her and helped her campaign.

“I’m so grateful for all the people who have stepped up to build such an incredible grassroots campaign. Being a candidate is not a one-person job, just like being mayor is not a one-person job,” she wrote.

Until the election on Nov. 2, Sciarra wrote she will continue sharing her vision for the city.

“For the next 35 days, we are going to keep on sharing our vision for Northampton and asking everyone in Northampton, Florence and Leeds to join us and help make that vision a reality,” she wrote.

In the race for city councilor at-large, four candidates, current Ward 1 City Councilor Michael Quinlan, political activist Jamila Gore, current Planning Board member Marissa Elkins and former City Councilor David Murphy are squaring off for two vacancies.

Elkins said she was thankful for her support.

“Right now, we are delighted to have made it past the preliminary and we are really glad to see the support that came out for me, especially given what an unusual race that preliminary was, between the interesting dynamic and the turnout,” she said.

Elkins said her next step is to take the momentum from the preliminary to be even more aggressive with campaigning.

 “Our next steps and what we are doing right away is trying to hit the ground running with the momentum that came with Bill Dwight’s endorsement and some other support that came in for me during the last week or two of the preliminary. We are looking forward to backyard parties, making sure that I am knocking doors everywhere I can and talking with people,” she said. “I’m looking forward to opportunities to expand the number of people who know me and talk with people substantively.”

Quinlan said his initial response was a feeling of gratitude for everyone that helped with his campaign and voted for him.

"My first reaction was an incredible feeling of gratitude to the many people that helped me by holding signs and helped me with the campaign along the way, but also the more than 2,000 people that did check my name the other day. That felt really amazing, and it was a great feeling of support,” he said.

With the preliminary in the rearview mirror, Quinlan said he took some time to rest and plan the next steps for his campaign in what is poised to be a competitive race about the future of the city.

“This race is competitive and interesting because we are talking about a lot of major decisions coming up for the city of Northampton so I am just hopeful in the next round more people will check my name and support me to be part of this process,” he said. “I’ve taken a couple days here to rest up after a pretty intense three or four days before the preliminary so I think we have a plan for getting the message out to talk to as many people as possible in the next 30ish days.”

Murphy said it felt good to be moving on to the general election and added he has been overwhelmed with people calling to ask for his campaign signs.

“It is nice to have survived the primary and to be proceeding into the general election. I have been overwhelmed with calls from people asking for my campaign signs. In fact, I am buying another 100 today so that has been really good,” he said.

Murphy said he hopes more people come out for the general election and he is looking forward to speaking in future forums and reaching out to residents through direct mail.

“I’m hoping we get more people voting. I am always disappointed when less than 25 percent of the people can take the time to actually come out and vote in the election. I would like to see it up around 50 percent, it is nice when you can see the elected leaders are elected by more than a quarter of the population,” he said. “I have more signs going up and I am going to be using direct mail to reach voters.”

City Council At-Large candidate Jamila Gore did not respond to a request for comment.