1993 Boston City Council election

Boston City Council elections were held on November 2, 1993. All thirteen seats (nine district representatives and four at-large members) were contested in the general election, while ten seats (six districts and the four at-large members) had also been contested in the preliminary election held on September 21, 1993.

The large number of preliminary candidates followed a reduction in the number of signatures required for a candidate to appear on the ballot, from 1500 to 500. ^[1]

Since the composition of the council changed in 1984, to four at-large seats and nine district representatives, no candidate who had run for re-election had lost. ^[1] However, two incumbents—Anthony Crayton and David Scondras—were defeated by challengers in this election.

At-large

Councillors John A. Nucci and Dapper O'Neil were re-elected. Councillors Bruce Bolling and Rosaria Salerno did not seek re-election, as they were running for Mayor of Boston; their seats were won by Richard P. Iannella and Peggy Davis-Mullen. Iannella was the son of former Council president Christopher A. Iannella, ^[1] while unsuccessful candidate Michael Travaglini was the brother of outgoing District 1 Councillor Robert Travaglini. ^[2]

Candidates [3]	Preliminary Election [1]		General Election [4]
	Votes	%	Votes	%
John A. Nucci	42,970	14.4%	53,531	16.7%
Dapper O'Neil	42,069	14.1%	52,900	16.5%
Richard P. Iannella	34,065	11.4%	52,542	16.4%
Peggy Davis-Mullen	29,389	9.9%	40,340	12.6%
Stephen J. Murphy	20,472	6.9%	31,294	9.7%
Michael Travaglini	19,976	6.7%	31,014	9.7%
Francis Costello	21,131	7.1%	30,367	9.5%
Eddie Jenkins Jr.	16,249	5.5%	28,986	9.0%
Brian P. Wallace	12,231	4.1%
Karen MacNutt	11,885	4.0%
Jose Vincenty	10,606	3.6%
Joseph Delgardo	6,886	2.3%
Karen Ray	6,654	2.2%
Gary Dotterman	5,404	1.8%
Frank G. Williams	5,376	1.8%
Daniel J. Carey	5,339	1.8%
Edward T. Wheeler	4,019	1.3%
Martin A. Coughlin	3,308	1.3%

District 1

Councillor Robert Travaglini, who had been elected to the Massachusetts Senate in November 1992, did not seek re-election to the City Council; ^[2] his seat was won by Diane J. Modica.

Candidates [5]	Preliminary Election [6] [7]		General Election [8]
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Diane J. Modica	4,010†	28.4%	8,008	54.6%
James Costello	2,814†	19.9%	6,663	45.4%
Robert Cappucci	2,662†	18.8%
Domenic A. Piso	2,310	16.3%
Maria DiLibero	1,822	12.9%
Tom Pizzi	300	2.1%
Richard Rosa	218	1.5%

† per preliminary election recount

District 2

Councillor James M. Kelly was re-elected.

Candidates [5]	General Election [9]
	Votes	%
James M. Kelly	12,344	85.8%
Ali J. Fiumedoro	2,050	14.2%

District 3

Councillor James E. Byrne did not seek re-election; his seat was won by Maureen Feeney, his neighborhood liaison. ^[6]

Candidates [5]	Preliminary Election [6]		General Election [10]
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Maureen Feeney	6,673	49.4%	9,769	70.7%
Joseph P. McDermott	2,118	15.7%	4,041	29.3%
Michael F. Kenneally	1,394	10.3%
Thomas J. Doherty	1,335	9.9%
Patrick J. Walsh	1,026	7.6%
Nancy E. Kavanagh	965	7.1%

District 4

Councillor Charles Yancey was re-elected.

Candidates [5]	General Election [11]
	Votes	%
Charles Yancey	5,302	87.6%
J. R. Rucker	753	12.4%

District 5

The seat of Councillor Thomas Menino, who had been acting mayor since July 1993 and won the mayoral election, was won by Daniel F. Conley.

Candidates [5]	Preliminary Election [6]		General Election [12]
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Daniel F. Conley	6,210	37.9%	10,631	59.1%
John Pulgini	3,884	23.7%	7,355	40.9%
John P. Grady	2,945	18.0%
Rita E. Walsh	1,990	12.1%
John J. Kenney	642	3.9%
Kenneth W. Spolsino	436	2.7%
John H. Sheerin	276	1.7%

District 6

Councillor Maura Hennigan was re-elected.

Candidates [5]	General Election [13]
	Votes	%
Maura Hennigan	10,465	64.7%
Gerard J. McCarthy	5,714	35.3%

District 7

Councillor Anthony Crayton was defeated by Gareth R. Saunders.

Candidates [5]	Preliminary Election [6] [7]		General Election‡ [14]		Recount [15] [16] [17]
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
Gareth R. Saunders	1,447†	25.7%	3,028	49.4%	3,137	50.7%
Anthony Crayton	1,824†	32.4%	3,097	50.6%	3,047	49.3%
Roy A. Owens	1,417†	25.2%
Phyllis Bailey	693	12.3%
Ray F. Green	247	4.4%

† per preliminary election recount
‡ Saunders was later declared the winner, due to discovery of a tally sheet error; ^[18] his victory was subsequently confirmed via recount.

District 8

Councillor David Scondras was defeated by Thomas M. Keane Jr.

Candidates [5]	Preliminary Election [6]		General Election [14]		Recount [15] [19] [20]
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
Thomas M. Keane Jr.	2,403	39.8%	3,648	50.2%	3,649	50.2%
David Scondras	3,271	54.2%	3,621	49.8%	3,622	49.8%
Dan Huck	366	6.1%

District 9

Councillor Brian J. McLaughlin was re-elected.

Candidates [5]	Preliminary Election [6]		General Election [14]		Recount [15] [21]
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
Brian J. McLaughlin	4,213	46.1%	4,585	51.6%	4,561	50.9%
Jerry P. McDermott	2,398	26.3%	4,295	48.4%	4,400	49.1%
Rosina T. Bowman	1,742	19.1%
Will Luxier	617	6.8%
John W. Carmilia	162	1.8%

See also

• List of members of the Boston City Council
• 1993 Boston mayoral election

References

1. Howe, Peter J. (September 22, 1993). "Nucci, O'Neil finish 1-2 in unofficial tally Unofficial results have Iannella 3d" . The Boston Globe . p. 20. Retrieved March 3, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
2. "Lawyer seeks at-large City Council seat" . The Boston Globe . April 24, 1993. p. 15. Retrieved March 3, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.
3. "The Candidates for City Council At-Large" . The Boston Globe . October 25, 1993. p. 24. Retrieved March 4, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.
4. "Our Campaigns - Boston City Councillor - At-Large Race - Nov 02, 1993".
5. "The Candidates For City Council, Districts" . The Boston Globe . October 25, 1993. p. 24. Retrieved March 4, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.
6. Hohler, Bob (September 22, 1993). "Keeping tradition, incumbents stand to keep their seats" . The Boston Globe . p. 20. Retrieved March 4, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.
7. Nolan, Martin F. (September 25, 1993). "Official Tally Reverses Finish of 2 City Council Hopefuls" . The Boston Globe . p. 15. Retrieved March 4, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.
8. "Our Campaigns - Boston City Councillor - District 1 Race - Nov 02, 1993".
9. "Our Campaigns - Boston City Councillor - District 2 Race - Nov 02, 1993".
10. "Our Campaigns - Boston City Councillor - District 3 Race - Nov 02, 1993".
11. "Our Campaigns - Boston City Councillor - District 4 Race - Nov 02, 1993".
12. "Our Campaigns - Boston City Councillor - District 5 Race - Nov 02, 1993".
13. "Our Campaigns - Boston City Councillor - District 6 Race - Nov 02, 1993".
14. Hernandez, Efrain (November 3, 1993). "Scondras is apparent council loser" . The Boston Globe . p. 1. Retrieved March 4, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.
15. "No changes after council recounts" . The Boston Globe . November 19, 1993. p. 53. Retrieved March 4, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.
16. "Recount confirms Saunders victory" . The Boston Globe . November 18, 1993. p. 61. Retrieved March 4, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.
17. "Our Campaigns - Boston City Councillor - District 7 Race - Nov 02, 1993".
18. "Saunders now seen as winner over Crayton" . The Boston Globe . November 8, 1993. p. 1. Retrieved March 4, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.
19. "Council winner declared today" . The Boston Globe . November 17, 1993. p. 64. Retrieved March 4, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.
20. "Our Campaigns - Boston City Councillor - District 8 Race - Nov 02, 1993".
21. "Our Campaigns - Boston City Councillor - District 9 Race - Nov 02, 1993".

Further reading

• "For the City Council" . The Boston Globe . October 27, 1993. p. 10. Retrieved March 4, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.
• "Charlestown Patriot and Somerville Chronicle" (PDF). Vol. 35, no. 52. September 16, 1993. Retrieved March 4, 2018– via docdroid.net.
• "Charlestown Patriot and Somerville Chronicle" (PDF). Vol. 36, no. 6. October 28, 1993. Retrieved March 4, 2018– via docdroid.net.
• "Charlestown Patriot and Somerville Chronicle" (PDF). Vol. 36, no. 7. November 4, 1993. Retrieved March 4, 2018– via docdroid.net.