The 2021 Boston City Council election was held on November 2, 2021. All thirteen councillors from the nine districts and four councillors at-large were up for election. Elections in Boston are officially nonpartisan.
Councillors Andrea Campbell, Annissa Essaibi George, Kim Janey, and Michelle Wu ran in the mayoral election, while Matt O'Malley did not seek re-election. Councillors Ricardo Arroyo, Frank Baker, Kenzie Bok, Liz Breadon, Lydia Edwards, Michael F. Flaherty, Ed Flynn, and Julia Mejia ran for re-election; all eight were successful. Five new members were elected to the council; two at-large and three from districts (4, 6, and 7).
Background
Marty Walsh was elected to the mayoralty of Boston, Massachusetts, in the 2013 and 2017 elections. On January 7, 2021, President-elect Joe Biden announced that he would select Walsh to serve as the United States Secretary of Labor. Walsh resigned as mayor on March 22, after being confirmed as Secretary of Labor, and was replaced as acting-mayor by Kim Janey, who also served as president of the Boston City Council.
The city council voted to move the primary election date from September 21 to September 14, in order to allow mail-in voting ballots for the general election an additional week of distribution time, which was approved by Mayor Janey.
Incumbent status The council members at the time of both the preliminary election and general election are listed below. The table further indicates if each incumbent ran for re-election, and if so, whether they were re-elected or not.
District Name Entered office Ran Result No Yes Yes No 1 Yes 2 Yes 3 Yes 4 No Defeated in mayoral election 5 Yes 6 No 7 No Defeated in mayoral election 8 Yes 9 Yes City council president and acting mayor of Boston Acting city council president
Campaign At-large Two of the four incumbents did not seek re-election. Michelle Wu, who joined the city council in 2014, announced on September 15, 2020, that she would run in the mayoral election. Annissa Essaibi George, who joined the city council in 2016, announced on January 27, 2021, that she would run in the mayoral election. Incumbent councillors Michael F. Flaherty, who joined the city council in 2014, and Julia Mejia, who won election to the city council by one vote in the 2019 election, ran for reelection.
Other candidates in the election included: Althea Garrison, the first openly transgender person to serve in a state legislature and former member of the city council; Ruthzee Louijeune, a lawyer who worked as senior counsel for Senator Elizabeth Warren's presidential and senatorial campaigns; Erin Murphy, a former teacher in the Boston Public Schools; Alex Gray, a policy analyst; and Nick Vance, a political action co-chair of the NAACP in Boston.
The top eight vote-getters in the primary election advanced to the general election.
2021 Boston City Council at-large electionCandidatePrimary electionGeneral electionVotes%Votes% Michael F. Flaherty (incumbent) 41,509 15.0 62,603 17.4 Julia Mejia (incumbent) 38,919 14.1 62,058 17.3 Ruthzee Louijeune 33,546 12.1 54,898 15.3 Erin Murphy 22,938 8.3 43,076 12.0 David Halbert 17,012 6.1 42,765 11.9 Carla Monteiro 18,911 6.8 39,876 11.1 Bridget Nee-Walsh 15,191 5.5 27,591 7.7 Althea Garrison 16,906 6.1 25,078 7.0 Kelly Bates 12,787 4.6 Alexander Gray 11,320 4.1 Jon Spillane 11,217 4.1 Said Abdikarim 7,767 2.8 Domingos DaRosa 7,011 2.5 Donnie Palmer Jr. 6,861 2.5 Roy Owens Sr. 5,265 1.9 James Colimon 4,693 1.7 Nick Vance 3,968 1.4 Write-ins 873 0.3 1,350 0.4 Total 276,694 100 359,294 100
1st district
Councillor Lydia Edwards, who was first elected to the city council in 2017, announced that she would run for reelection and launched her campaign on February 26, 2021, at a virtual event. Edwards was unopposed.
CandidatesGeneral electionVotes% Lydia Edwards 10,558 97.3 Write-in 296 2.7 Total 10,854 100
2nd district
Councillor Ed Flynn filed to run for reelection. He ran unopposed.
CandidatesGeneral electionVotes% Ed Flynn 15,029 98.3 Write-in 257 1.7 Total 15,286 100
3rd district
Councillor Frank Baker, who was first elected in 2011, announced that he would run for reelection after initially wanting to leave politics, but the COVID-19 pandemic changed his plans. Stephen McBride also ran in the election.
CandidatesGeneral electionVotes% Frank Baker 8,518 62.9 Stephen McBride 4,972 36.7 Write-in 62 0.5 Total 13,552 100
4th district
Councillor Andrea Campbell, who joined the city council in 2016, announced on September 24, 2020, that she would run for mayor. Evandro Carvalho, who served in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, announced on October 19 that he would run in the election. Leonard M. Lee Sr., a community organizer and member of the Boston Parks Commission, announced on February 3, 2021, that he would run in the election, stating that he was inspired to run after a nineteen-year-old was killed by the police outside his home. Other candidates included: William Dickerson III, a former city council aide; Nikkia Jean-Charles, who was inspired by Ayanna Pressley's campaign for a seat in the United States House of Representatives; and Joel Richards, a Boston Public School teacher and Boston Teachers Union activist. The top two vote-getters in the primary election advanced to the general election.
2021 Boston City Council District 4 electionCandidatePrimary electionGeneral electionVotes%Votes% Brian Worrell 2,502 25.4 7,464 61.6 Evandro Carvalho 1,838 18.7 4,611 38.1 Joel Richards 1,320 13.4 Josette Williams 1,173 11.9 Leonard Lee Sr. 974 9.9 William Dickerson III 948 9.6 Deeqo Jibril 458 4.7 Troy Smith 427 4.3 Jacob Urena 185 1.9 Write-ins 24 0.2 41 0.3 Total 9,849 100 12,116 100
5th district
Councillor Ricardo Arroyo ran for reelection; John White also ran in the election.
CandidatesGeneral electionVotes% Ricardo Arroyo 13,175 75.7 John White 4,127 23.7 Write-in 95 0.5 Total 17,397 100
6th district
Kendra Hicks, an activist, announced in September 2020 that she would run against councilor Matt O'Malley. O'Malley, who joined the council in 2010, announced on December 2, 2020, that he would not seek reelection, so he could focus on his family. Two other candidates also ran for the seat; the top two vote-getters in the preliminary election advanced to the general election.
2021 Boston City Council District 6 electionCandidatePrimary electionGeneral electionVotes%Votes% Kendra Hicks 9,265 49.9 13,987 55.8 Mary Tamer 8,024 43.2 11,017 43.9 Winnie Eke 1,196 6.4 Write-ins 76 0.4 81 0.3 Total 18,561 100% 25,085 100
7th district Councillor Kim Janey, who was serving as acting-mayor and joined the council in 2018, announced on April 6, 2021, that she would run in the mayoral election. Candidates for the seat included Tania Fernandes Anderson, director of a non-profit organization, and Roy Owens Sr., a perennial candidate in council elections. The top two vote-getters in the preliminary election advanced to the general election.
2021 Boston City Council District 7 electionCandidatePrimary electionGeneral electionVotes%Votes% Tania Fernandes Anderson 2,038 26.72 7,062 73.0 Roy Owens Sr. 1,300 17.05 2,562 26.5 Angelina Comacho 1,263 16.56 Brandy Brooks 747 9.80 Lorraine Wheeler 703 9.22 Santiago Rivera 570 7.47 Marisa Luse 552 7.24 Joao DePina 410 5.38 Write-ins 43 1.46 45 0.5 Total 7,626 100% 9,669 100
8th district
Councillor Kenzie Bok, who joined the council in 2020, filed to run for re-election. She was unopposed.
CandidatesGeneral electionVotes% Kenzie Bok 7,038 97.9 Write-in 151 2.1 Total 7,189 100
9th district
Councillor Liz Breadon, who joined the council in 2020, ran for reelection against Michael Bianchi and entrepreneur Eric Porter. The top two vote-getters in the preliminary election advanced to the general election.
2021 Boston City Council District 9 electionCandidatePrimary electionGeneral electionVotes%Votes% Liz Breadon 5,075 71.7 7,304 71.4 Michael Bianchi 977 13.8 2,844 27.8 Eric Porter 774 10.9 Write-ins 253 4.5 88 0.9 Total 7,079 100% 10,236 100
Campaign finance
Candidate Campaign committee District Frank Baker $62,576.29 3rd Kelly Bates $61,737.76 At-large Kenzie Bok $44,227.40 8th Lydia Edwards $106,067.81 1st Michael F. Flaherty $252,075.21 At-large Alexander Gray $40,185.62 At-large David Halbert $63,828.57 At-large Kendra Hicks $76,456.51 6th Julia Mejia $101,899.46 At-large Erin Murphy $48,238.95 At-large Ruthzee Louijeune $129,825.33 At-large Mary Tamer $74,801.94 6th
Endorsements At-large district
1st district
2nd district
4th district
5th district
6th district
7th district
8th district
9th district
Polling At-large General election Poll source Date(s)administered Samplesize Marginof error MichaelFlaherty AltheaGarrison DavidHalbert RuthzeeLouijeune JuliaMejia CarlaMonteiro ErinMurphy Bridget UndecidedEmerson CollegeEmerson CollegeOctober 26–27, 2021500 (LV)± 4.3%45%20%37%47%48%34%39%24%–Suffolk UniversitySuffolk UniversityOctober 15–17, 2021500 (LV)± 4.4%30%9%16%21%29%15%18%10%35%MassINC Polling GroupMassINC Polling GroupOctober 6–12, 2021501 (LV)± 4.9%20%8%12%16%21%13%16%11%47%
Notes
References
Further reading
External links Election office at boston.gov