Midterm elections may have just wrapped up, but the next round of campaigns is already getting under way.

In November 2007, there'll be elections for county executive, County Legislature, and Rochester City Council district seats, and the rumor mills are already churning, particularly about the Council races.

All four district seats will be on the ballot.

Probably the most interesting race will be in the city's east district, which encompasses downtown east of the river, most of the city's southeast, and a portion of the northeast. That's the district currently represented by Council President Lois Giess. The longest-serving member of City Council, Giess was first elected in 1985. She hasn't said publicly whether she'll run for another term, and rumors have been flying that she won't. But when City Newspaper asked if she'd made up her mind, she said simply: "Not yet."

If Giess decides not to run, her seat may be the most likely to generate a primary. Loretta Scott, who was the city's Commissioner of Parks, Recreation, and Human Services in the Johnson administration, has been mentioned as a possible candidate. So has Saul Maneiro, who was an aide to former State Senator Rick Dollinger and is a Housing Council program manager. Maneiro ran unsuccessfully for an at-large City Council seat two years ago.

Few other names for Giess's seat have been mentioned, but party observers say they'd be surprised if the city's whitest, most liberal quarter didn't also field a white, liberal candidate.

The next most senior Council member is Bob Stevenson, who has represented the northwest district since 1988. If Stevenson decides to run again, he'll likely be unopposed, at least for the Democratic designation. (His district includes areas that were the last Republican strongholds in the city and would be the most likely to field a Republican Council candidate next year). If Stevenson doesn't run, there's almost universal agreement that there'll be a Democratic primary, but no one's throwing out names.

The councilmember who may face the toughest challenge, according to the rumors, is Ben Douglas in the northwest district. Douglas joined City Council in 1991 and says he plans to run again in 2007. One potential challenger frequently mentioned is Lovely Warren, who lost in the 2007 Democratic primary for City Council by only a handful of votes. Warren works as counsel to State Assembly member David Gantt and is president of the Rochester Black Bar Association.

Also mentioned as a possible challenger to Douglas is former School Board member Jim Bowers. A political science professor at St. John Fisher College, Bowers served a term on the Rochester School Board. At times he's been critical of both Douglas and more publicly, of Gantt, Warren's boss and mentor.

Southwest district councilmember Adam McFadden is just finishing his first term, but he's one of Council's more visible members. It's McFadden, for instance, who first pushed for a curfew. And he's built up a base of support in his district. Political insiders we spoke with said he's likely to face a primary, but that he'll probably weather it just fine. One of the few names floated as a possible challenger: Tony Reed, a party activist who has frequently run for public office. Most recently, he unsuccessfully challenged Willie Joe Lightfoot Jr. for a County Legislature seat in 2005.