FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – Following Wednesday’s deadline, five candidates are officially in the running to fill Fort Wayne’s 6th District City Council vacancy.

The final list of candidates includes former Allen County Democratic Party (ACDP) Chair Michael Bynum, VP of the FWCS Board of School Trustees Rohli Booker, Adams Township Trustee Denita Washington, Delois (Dee) McKinley-Eldridge, and Larry Gist, former president of the NAACP’s Fort Wayne chapter.

The council seat became vacant after former councilwoman Sharon Tucker took on the role of mayor in April.

A sixth candidate, Gary Arrington, was initially added to the list following the deadline, but the ACDP central committee met Wednesday to finalize the list of official candidates and determined Arrington did not qualify for the ballot.

The ACDP explained the qualifications for candidacy are the same as the requirements to file for office on the ballot: a one-year residency in Fort Wayne’s 6th city council district, no felony convictions, and the two most recent primaries the candidate voted in must have been a Democratic primary.

According to the ACDP, Arrington did not qualify for the ballot based on the two-primary rule.

The ACDP will hold a caucus where 20 precinct chairs will vote for the 6th District seat to be filled on May 18 at 10 a.m. at the Bricklayers Union No. 4. The event is open to the public.