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2023 Boston City Council election

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2023 Boston City Council election

← 2021 November 7, 2023 (2023-11-07) 2025 →

13 seats on the Boston City Council
  Majority party
 
Party Democratic
Last election 13

Composition of the Boston City Council by political party[a]

City Council President before election

Ed Flynn

Elected City Council President

Ruthzee Louijeune

The 2023 Boston City Council election was held on November 7, 2023, with primaries occurring on September 12, 2023. All thirteen councillors from the nine districts and four councillors at-large were up for election. Elections in Boston are officially nonpartisan.

Two councillors, Michael F. Flaherty and Frank Baker, did not seek re-election. Of the 11 members of the council seeking re-election, nine were successful,[1] while Ricardo Arroyo (District 5) and Kendra Lara (District 6) were defeated.[2][3]

Election schedule

[edit]

Key dates relating to the election were as follows:

2023 Boston election schedule
September 2 Last day for registration for primary election
September 5 Last day to request mail ballot for primary election
September 12 Preliminary election
October 28 Last day for registration for general election
October 31 Last day to request mail ballot for general election
November 7 General election
Source[4][5]

Summary

[edit]

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.

Ed Flynn, council president at the time of the election
District Incumbent Ran Result
At-large Michael F. Flaherty No
Retired
Ruthzee Louijeune Yes
Re-elected
Julia Mejia Yes
Re-elected
Erin Murphy Yes
Re-elected
1 Gabriela Coletta Yes
Re-elected
2 Ed Flynn Yes
Re-elected
3 Frank Baker No
Retired
4 Brian Worrell Yes
Re-elected
5 Ricardo Arroyo Yes
Lost
6 Kendra Lara Yes
Lost
7 Tania Fernandes Anderson Yes
Re-elected
8 Sharon Durkan Yes
Re-elected
9 Liz Breadon Yes
Re-elected

† Council President

Results

[edit]

At-large

[edit]
2023 Boston City Council at-large election
Candidate General election[6]
Votes %
Ruthzee Louijeune (incumbent) 44,479 20.31
Erin Murphy (incumbent) 43,383 19.81
Julia Mejia (incumbent) 39,656 18.10
Henry Santana 34,014 15.53
Bridget Nee-Walsh 26,674 12.18
Shawn Nelson 10,448 4.77
Clifton Braithwaite 10,236 4.67
Catherine Vitale 8,503 3.88
Write-ins 1,657 3.88
Total 219,050 100

District 1

[edit]

Lydia Edwards, who won the District 1 seat in the 2021 general election, resigned from the Council at the end of April 2022 and was later elected to the Massachusetts Senate. Gabriela Coletta won a special election in May 2022 to serve the remainder of Edwards' term.[7] Incumbent Coletta then ran unopposed for election to a full term.[8]

2023 Boston City Council District 1 election
Candidates General Election[6]
Votes %
Gabriela Coletta (incumbent) 5,725 95.62
Write-ins 262 4.38
Total 5,987 100

District 2

[edit]
2023 Boston City Council District 2 election
Candidates General Election[6]
Votes %
Ed Flynn (incumbent) 7,552 97.81
Write-ins 169 2.19
Total 7,721 100

District 3

[edit]
2023 Boston City Council District 3 election
Candidate Primary election[9] General election[6]
Votes % Votes %
John FitzGerald 2,777 43.07 5,133 58.24
Joel Richards 1,237 19.19 3,650 41.41
Ann Walsh 1,151 17.85  
Matthew Patton 550 8.53  
Jennifer Johnson 271 4.20  
Barry Lawton 237 3.68  
Rosalind Wornum 213 3.30  
Write-ins 11 0.17 31 0.35
Total 6,447 100 8,814 100

District 4

[edit]
2023 Boston City Council District 4 election
Candidates General Election[6]
Votes %
Brian Worrell (incumbent) 4,656 97.51
Write-ins 119 2.49
Total 4,775 100

District 5

[edit]
2023 Boston City Council District 5 election
Candidate Primary election[9] General election[6]
Votes % Votes %
Enrique Pepén 3,047 40.42 5,781 52.75
Jose Ruiz 2,302 30.53 5,134 46.84
Ricardo Arroyo (incumbent) 1,397 18.53  
Jean-Claude Sanon 766 10.16  
Write-ins 27 0.36 45 0.41
Total 7,539 100 10,960 100

District 6

[edit]
2023 Boston City Council District 6 election
Candidate Primary election[9] General election[6]
Votes % Votes %
Benjamin Weber 4,951 42.25 9,451 60.70
William King 4,384 37.42 6,089 38.74
Kendra Lara (incumbent) 2,351 20.06  
Write-ins 31 0.26 88 0.56
Total 9,849 100 15,718 100

District 7

[edit]
2023 Boston City Council District 7 election
Candidate Primary election[9] General election[6]
Votes % Votes %
Tania Fernandes Anderson (incumbent) 1,448 57.46 3,719 70.36
Althea Garrison 521 20.67 1,500 28.45
Roy Owens Sr 238 9.44  
Jerome King 200 7.94  
Padma Scott 71 2.82  
Write-ins 42 1.67 63 1.19
Total 2,520 100 5,273 100

District 8

[edit]

Kenzie Bok, who had won the District 8 seat in the 2021 general election, resigned in April 2023 to take a position in the Boston Housing Authority. Sharon Durkan was then elected to the District 8 seat in a July 2023 special election.[10] Incumbent Durkan then ran for election to a full term.

2023 Boston City Council District 8 election
Candidates General Election[6]
Votes %
Sharon Durkan (incumbent) 3,818 70.70
Montez Haywood 1,546 28.63
Write-ins 36 0.67
Total 5,400 100

District 9

[edit]
2023 Boston City Council District 9 election
Candidates General Election[6]
Votes %
Liz Breadon (incumbent) 4,399 65.95
Jacob deBlecourt 2,222 33.31
Write-ins 49 0.73
Total 6,670 100

Notes

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  1. ^ Officially nonpartisan

References

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  1. ^ Wuthmann, Walter (November 8, 2023). "Boston City Council retains progressive majority in election". WBUR-FM. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  2. ^ Reilly, Adam (September 12, 2023). "Arroyo and Lara lose races in controversy-packed 2023 Boston preliminary election". WGBH. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  3. ^ Dearing, Tiziana; Wuthmann, Walter; Lane, Rob (September 13, 2023). "Arroyo, Lara voted out of Boston's City Council by wide margins". WBUR-FM. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  4. ^ "2023 Election Calendar". Boston.gov. December 22, 2016. Archived from the original on August 14, 2023. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
  5. ^ "Vote by Mail in Boston". Boston.gov. June 29, 2022. Archived from the original on August 14, 2023. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Unofficial Election Results". Boston.gov. Archived from the original on December 29, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  7. ^ Gavin, Christopher (May 4, 2022). "Gigi Coletta is Boston's newest city councilor". Boston.com. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
  8. ^ "Five of Six Mayoral Candidates Take Nomination Papers on Day 1: Early Poll Shows Half of Voters Undecided, Wu With Highest Favorability". Beacon Hill Times. April 22, 2021. Archived from the original on June 29, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d "Unofficial Election Results". Boston.gov. Archived from the original on October 26, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
  10. ^ Guffey, Alysa (July 25, 2023). "Sharon Durkan wins special election for Boston City Council District 8 seat". The Boston Globe. Retrieved August 9, 2023.