Felicia Astacio, the sister of former Rochester City Court Judge Leticia Astacio, is running for City Council.

Felicia posted on her Facebook page that she has already started to collect petition signatures that would get her a place on the ballot for the East district seat.

Felicia wrote:

"Petitions have already began and I have limited time to collect as many signatures as possible. My seat is for the East side of the city and only registered Democrats in that section of the city can sign! I am running for City Council North East District! I will be walking door-to-door starting today collecting signatures, but I will always be carrying petitions and have them on hand.

I apologize in advance that petitioning is taking place in the winter. I sincerely appreciate everyone who has already volunteered and I welcome all of you. With your assistance I can be the change we want to see."

On Tuesday it was reported that Felicia's sister Leticia was also considering a run for office. Leticia has been in and out of court and local headlines since her initial DWI conviction in 2016, and is facing attempted criminal purchase or disposal of a weapon charges. Astacio is accused of attempting to purchase a shotgun from a Henrietta sporting goods store while on probation. She was formally removed from the bench in October after the Court of Appeals upheld the Judicial Conduct Commission's recommendation to remove her.

We reached out to Felicia for comment on why she is running. She responded Wednesday morning:

"I've lived in the city of Rochester for over 20 years. I've changed many lives on a personal level through child care and now I'm ready to make an impact on a larger scale. I'm excited about participating in the shaping of Rochestrer and ensuring everyone is represented in that process."

City Council's current East district representative is Elaine Spaul, who also served as the Council's Vice President from 2009 through 2011. The Monroe County Democrats endorsed candidate Mary Lupien last month for the position.

"There's many other candidates running or passing petitions for those districts also. So they're just being added to the list as another potential candidate. I mean remember, anyone can pass a petition as long as they've lived in that district for a year," said Democratic Deputy Elections Commissioner, Colleen Anderson. "The chances of a primary in the East and Northwest are good, if they will be part of that primary, it depends on if they collect enough signatures and how their petitions are. "

The deadline for petition submissions to get on the ballot is April 11, according to the New York State Board of Elections.