The race to succeed State Representative Jon Santiago is about to begin with potential candidates already making phone calls to judge their viability.

Santiago announced last week that he would be joining Governor Maura Healey’s cabinet as the state’s first secretary of the Executive Office of Veterans’ Service.

He will leave his current elected position by the end of the month.

The district is expected to elect a new representative in the spring.

“We are very happy for Representative Santiago who served the constituents for many years, focusing on every nut and bolt of every issue,” said Stephen Fox, the founder of the South End Forum, an umbrella group representing the community’s neighborhood associations.

“At the same time, it is a bittersweet feeling as we will now look to elect a new leader to represent our interests in the legislature.”

Since Santiago’s last election, the district’s boundaries have changed due to redistricting.

Under the new map, the district will include most of the South End, along with parts of Roxbury into the Nubian Square, Dorchester into the Polish Triangle, South Bay and Newmarket.

Fox noted that the expectation is high for candidates to be from the South End as the new map covers a much larger area of the neighborhood.

One of the primary issues to be addressed is the opioid crisis that has been rampant around Mass and Cass.

“For the past eight years, we along with an addiction recovery organization have come up with a 10-point recommendation to address this issue, but not one of them has been adopted,” said Fox.

Jonathan Cohn, the chair of the Ward 4 Democratic Committee highlighted other issues in the area that need attention.

“Residents in the neighborhood want something to be done about the housing situation. They worry that their kids will not be able to afford houses that they once bought,” said Cohn.

Public transportation is another problem in the South End, according to Cohn.

With multiple MBTA trains and bus lines running across the district, the standard is still not on par. Constitutes find themselves distressed about constant delays and safety concerns.

Although we are still in the early stages of the impending election, low voter turnout will be a challenge to face when the time comes.

To tackle the problem, Cohn and his organization will do what they have done in the previous elections.

Before the primary, the organization will endorse one of the candidates and will campaign door-to-door to engage voters. They will also host events to make sure that the people are aware of the ongoing democracy in their backyard.