Election takes shape for council seats
The Boston City Council membership is going to go through major changes this year, with four open seats — and this week’s elections have begun to clarify the picture.
The preliminary election on Tuesday narrowed down the field for the Nov. 2 general.
In the at-large race for four seats, City Councilor Michael Flaherty cruised in the top vote-getting spot, with 41,299 votes, or 15%. Fellow incumbent City Councilor Julia Mejia only won by one vote in 2019, but appears more comfortable this year, following with 14.1%.
First-time candidate Ruthzee Louijeune, a U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren protege, showed third at 12.1%. Erin Murphy, a teacher who’s run for these seats before, followed with 8.29%.
The top eight candidates in the 17-way race advance to the general election, so they’ll be joined on the ballot by activists Carla Monteiro and David Halpert, with 6.8% and 6.1%, respectively. Former City Councilor Althea Garrison, a perennial candidate, followed with 6.1%, and Ironworkers 7 union rep Bridget NeeWalsh advanced with 5.5%.
It bears watching who comes in fifth, as Flaherty is rumored to be in contention for appointment to Suffolk District Attorney if DA Rachael Rollins is confirmed as U.S. Attorney — and that’s likely further bolstered now by Flaherty’s strong citywide showing. If any of the candidates are elected and then depart, the first runner-up slides in.
Districts 4, 6 and 7 and two of the at-large slots are all open seats, given various candidates’ either running for mayor or retiring.
District 7, the Roxbury council seat holds some looming drama. Tania Fernandes Anderson, the head of Bowdoin Geneva Main Streets, led the way, collecting 26.7%.
And it appeared perennial candidate and gadfly Roy Owens Sr. took the second slot in the eight-way race with 17%. But community activist Angie Camacho, who the not-yet-certified city results have just 28 votes back, told the Herald on Wednesday that she’s eyeing a recount, but needs to take a day to mull it over with community partners.
West Roxbury’s and Jamaica Plain’s District 6 was more straightforward. In a three-way race, Kendra Hicks picked up 50% of the vote, with Mary Tamer at 43.2%.
And in the Mattapan-centric District 4, Brian Worrell, who works in real estate, and former state Rep. Evandro Carvalho made it out of a nine-way race with 25.4% and 18.7%, respectively.