2021 Boston City Council election

Boston City Council elections are scheduled to be held on November 2, 2021. Voters will elect councillors for all 13 seats; nine from districts of the city and four selected at-large. A preliminary election, if needed, would be held on September 21.[1] A preliminary election is held when any district seat has more than two candidates, and when there are more than eight candidates for the four at-large seats. Council members elected in November 2021 will be inaugurated in January 2022. By law, Boston municipal elections are nonpartisan—candidates do not represent a specific political party.

Incumbents

The council entered 2021 with the following incumbent members:[2]

District	Name	Entered office	Ref.
At-large	Annissa Essaibi George	January 2016	[3]
	Michael F. Flaherty	January 2014	[4]
	Julia Mejia	January 2020	[5]
	Michelle Wu	January 2014	[6]
1	Lydia Edwards	January 2018	[7]
2	Edward M. Flynn	January 2018	[8]
3	Frank Baker	January 2012	[9]
4	Andrea Campbell	January 2016	[10]
5	Ricardo Arroyo	January 2020	[11]
6	Matt O'Malley	November 2010	[12]
7	Kim Janey	January 2018	[13]
8	Kenzie Bok	January 2020	[14]
9	Liz Breadon	January 2020	[15]

Council President

Announcements

• On September 15, 2020, at-large councilor Michelle Wu announced her candidacy for mayor and is not expected to seek re-election to the council.[16][lower-alpha 1]
• On September 24, 2020, District 4 councilor Andrea Campbell announced her candidacy for mayor and is not expected to seek re-election to the council.[18][lower-alpha 1]
• On December 2, 2020, District 6 councilor Matt O'Malley announced that he would not seek re-election.[19]
• On January 7, 2021, then-U.S. President-elect Joe Biden announced that he would nominate Mayor Marty Walsh as U.S. Secretary of Labor.[20] If Walsh is confirmed, Kim Janey would become Acting Mayor and would not be expected to seek re-election to the council.[21]
• On January 28, 2021, at-large councilor Annissa Essaibi George announced her candidacy for mayor and is not expected to seek re-election to the council.[22][lower-alpha 1]

Candidates

This section lists persons who have announced their intent to seek election. To appear on the ballot, candidates must file nomination papers at Boston City Hall by 5:00 p.m. on May 18 with a sufficient number of certified signatures of registered voters. The number of signatures required varies: 1,500 signatures for candidates seeking at-large seats, or 200 signatures for candidates seeking district seats, except for District 7 (195 signatures), District 8 (130 signatures), and District 9 (164 signatures).[1]

At-large

• Domingos DaRosa, former candidate for Boston City Councilor at-large[23]
• Althea Garrison, former Boston City Councilor at-large and perennial candidate[23]
• Alex Gray, policy analyst at Boston City Hall[24]
• David Halbert, former aid for city council and to Governor Deval Patrick[25]
• Nick Vance, political action co-chair for the Boston NAACP[23]

District 4

• William Dickerson[26]
• Joel Richards[26]
• Jacob Ureña[27]

District 6

• Kendra Hicks[28]
• Mary Tamer[29]

District 7

• Leon Rivera[30]

Notes

1. It is possible for a candidate in Boston to run for both city council and mayor. Charles Yancey did so in 2013;[17] he was eliminated from the mayoral race in the preliminary election, and was re-elected to his District 4 seat on the city council in the general election.

References

1. "2021 Election Calendar". Boston.gov. Boston Elections Commission. February 5, 2021. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
2. "City Council". boston.gov. Archived from the original on December 29, 2020. Retrieved January 9, 2021 – via Wayback Machine.
3. https://www.boston.gov/departments/city-council/annissa-essaibi-george
4. https://www.boston.gov/departments/city-council/michael-flaherty
5. https://www.boston.gov/departments/city-council/julia-mejia
6. https://www.boston.gov/departments/city-council/michelle-wu
7. https://www.boston.gov/departments/city-council/lydia-edwards
8. https://www.boston.gov/departments/city-council/ed-flynn
9. https://www.boston.gov/departments/city-council/frank-baker
10. https://www.boston.gov/departments/city-council/andrea-campbell
11. https://www.boston.gov/departments/city-council/ricardo-arroyo
12. https://www.boston.gov/departments/city-council/matt-omalley
13. https://www.boston.gov/departments/city-council/kim-janey
14. https://www.boston.gov/departments/city-council/kenzie-bok
15. https://www.boston.gov/departments/city-council/liz-breadon
16. "It's official: I'm running for Mayor because Boston should be a city for everyone. Now's the time for bold, urgent leadership". Twitter.com. 15 September 2020. Retrieved 15 September 2020.
17. Shanley, Peter (August 2, 2013). "Yancey draws criticism in District 4 race". Jamaica Plain Gazette. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
18. "Andrea Campbell announces campaign to be Boston mayor | Boston.com". www.boston.com. 24 September 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
19. Gavin, Christopher (December 3, 2020). "Boston City Councilor Matt O'Malley won't seek re-election next year". Boston.com. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
20. Staff, Politico (7 January 2021). "Biden chooses Boston mayor Walsh as Labor secretary". POLITICO. Retrieved 7 January 2021.
21. DeCosta-Klipa, Nik (January 8, 2021). "Two candidates are already in the race to be Boston's next mayor. More are looking to join". The Boston Globe. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
22. McDonald, Danny (January 27, 2021). "Councilor Essaibi-George jumps into the mayoral fray". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on January 28, 2021.
23. Kilgannon, Maddie (2021-01-27). "Garrison says she'll 'definitely be on the ballot' this year; The question is: which one?". Retrieved 2021-01-29.
24. Ertischek, David (October 6, 2020). "Jamaica Plain's Alex Gray Running for At-Large Council Seat". jamaicaplainnews.com. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
25. Ertischek, David (December 24, 2020). "David Halbert Running for At-Large Boston City Council Seat". jamaicaplainnews.com. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
26. Trojano, Katie (January 14, 2021). "Amid shuffle at City Hall, additional council bids emerge". dotnews.com. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
27. Blackley, Taylor (November 19, 2020). "Local minister, BLM activist and leader in Faneuil Hall name change effort runs for City Council". thescopeboston.org. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
28. Ertischek, David (September 9, 2020). "Kendra Hicks to Challenge O'Malley in Boston City Council Race". jamaicaplainnews.com. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
29. adamg (December 9, 2020). "Former School Committee member from West Roxbury running for council seat O'Malley is giving up". universalhub.com. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
30. @BosLeonRivera (January 15, 2021). "I am humbled by the overwhelming support from our community! Excited to continue sharing my vision for District 7 with our residents who have felt left out for far too long! I invite you to join our grassroots campaign at LeonRivera.com" (Tweet) – via Twitter.

Further reading

• McDonald, Danny (November 14, 2020). "City councilor to mayor? In Boston, it's typically an uphill climb for challengers". The Boston Globe. Retrieved January 9, 2021.

External links

• Election office at boston.gov