San Diego

Ten candidates, including all four incumbents, were officially certified Thursday for the September primary ballot in races for four San Diego City Council seats.

Councilmen Ron Roberts, Wes Pratt, Bruce Henderson and Bob Filner each qualified for their respective Sept. 17 district-only ballots by submitting more than 200 valid signatures of registered voters on nominating petitions, city election officials said.

Only one of the 11 potential candidates who turned in the petitions--4th District long shot Frances McCrary--fell short of the 200-name requirement.

McCrary’s ineligibility means that the 4th District race between Pratt and the Rev. George Stevens--a rematch of their 1987 campaign--is all but certain to conclude in the September primary with the 50%-plus victory needed to avoid a November runoff.

One other race, Henderson’s 6th District contest against Pacific Beach activist Valerie Stallings, also features only two candidates. As in the 4th District, only a strong showing by a write-in candidate--a scenario both politically and mathematically unlikely--could force a runoff in Henderson’s bid for a second four-year term.

The two remaining council primaries also could result in outright victories, because in both, the incumbents face a single major opponent and one long shot.

In the 2nd District, Roberts faces former City Hall aide Richard Grosch and Loch David Crane, a magician and frequent political also-ran.

Filner’s 8th District opponents are longtime San Ysidro community leader Andrea Skorepa and South Bay political novice Lincoln Pickard.