Rithy Uong, who previously served Lowell from 2000-2005, appears to be taking another bite at the City Council.

Uong pulled papers today at City Hall to run for an At-Large City Council seat, joining incumbents Rita Mercier and Vesna Nuon, along with challengers Corey Belanger, Erik Gitschier and Virak Uy to make it a field of six, assuming the likelihood that all return the minimum number of signatures required to appear on the ballot. If one more candidate enters the race, that would trigger a preliminary for the At-Large race on September 5, 2023.

Uong became the first Southeast Asian to win a seat anywhere in America when he scored a Council victory in 1999 and was subsequently sworn in with the 2000 City Council. Uong stepped down from his seat in August of 2005, amidst a State Ethics Commission sanction for accepting a job as Lowell High Housemaster in 2002, a position he gave up a month before resigning and returning to his previous position as a Guidance Counselor.

Most recently, Uong mounted an unsuccessful challenge to 18th Middlesex State Representative Rady Mom in 2018.