MAKING THEIR FINAL PITCHES
The polls have suggested that Janey, EssaibiGeorge and Campbell are in a close race for the second slot out into the general election.
The mayoral candidates buzzed around Boston the day before the biggest election of their lives, trying to lock up final votes over handshakes and hot dogs.
City Councilor Annissa Essaibi-George swung by Sullivan’s in South Boston to schmooze with the voters enjoying some hot dogs and ice cream during the warm afternoon. She said the voters she’s talked to are interested in hearing about plans, but more so about figuring out who will be trustworthy.
“The people of Boston want to know that their leader — that their mayor — is interested in what they’re interested in, but also has the ability to be accessible, to be responsive,” EssaibiGeorge said.
A bit later in the afternoon, Acting Mayor Kim Janey rallied with a couple dozen Unite Here! Local 26 members holding signs in Grove Hall after knocking on doors and chatting up straphangers earlier in the day. She cited her five months as the city’s chief executive — saying that incumbency can be a “double-edged sword,” but saying she’s proud of her record.
“Imagine what we can do with four years based on what we’ve done in these five months,” Janey told reporters, citing the pandemic, crime and affordable housing.
City Councilor Michelle Wu, who polling has suggested is in the driver’s seat for the first ticket out of the preliminary, batted down the idea that she’s going to cruise through. She’s been campaigning around Boston with her old boss, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, all weekend, and touting herself as the big-idea progressive in the race.
“I never trust the polls,” Wu told reporters, chuckling. “This is a moment when there are so many factors at play.”
City Councilor Andrea Campbell rallied with supporters in Franklin Square Park in the South End as the sun began to set after a day of meet-and-greets across the city.
“I’ve lived almost every inequity that folks are talking about,” Campbell told reporters after the full-scale rally in the park. Saying she’d delivered results based on that, she said, “Our residents want action — they don’t want rhetoric. And I’m like: I agree with you.”
Polls close at 8 tonight. All mail-in votes have to be there by then, so officials say not to try to throw any ballots in the mail at the last minute — people looking to vote should either do so in person or by dropping the mail-in ballot at a city drop box.
The polls have suggested that Janey, Essaibi-George and Campbell are in a close race for the second slot out into the general election, which will take place Nov. 2. Former economic development director John Barros, the other major candidate in the race, polls a ways back.