There will be no primary for seats on the Columbus City Council after the Franklin County Board of Elections declined to certify two of 10 candidates who submitted their paperwork for consideration.

Eight candidates, seven Democrats and one independent were approved by the panel Tuesday, including incumbents Elizabeth Brown and Emmanuel Remy.

Liliana Rivera Baiman, an immigrant and union organizer; Tiffany White, chairwoman of the North Central Area Commission; and Joe Motil, an outspoken critic of city officials, also were certified. They hope to run under the Yes We Can slate, a progressive organization within the Democratic party.

Others council candidates approved Tuesday included Jennifer Lynch, Fran Ryan and Scott Singratsomboune.

Petitions submitted by Al Edmondson and Nasandra Wright were deemed to be invalid and/or fell short of the 1,000 signatures required to qualify for the ballot.

Edmondson was among 14 finalists being considered for a seat being vacated by Councilman Michael Stinziano, who will begin his new term as Franklin County auditor next month.

Lynch and Ryan are placeholder candidates, to be replaced by recently appointed Councilwoman Shayla Favor and Stinziano's appointed successor on the November ballot.

Voters will decide four Columbus City Council seats in the November general election.

With no challenger for Democratic Columbus Mayor Andrew J. Ginther, that means city voters will have only a $1 billion bond package for capital improvements, including a new municipal court building, on their primary ballot.

Elsewhere in Franklin County, there will be three contested suburban primaries, with challengers for Gahanna mayor and for council seats in Hilliard and Reynoldsburg.

mkovac@dispatch.com

@OhioCapitalBlog