1997 Boston City Council election

Boston City Council elections were held on November 4, 1997. All 13 seats (nine district representatives and four at-large members) were contested in the general election. Eight seats (four districts and the four at-large members) had also been contested in the preliminary election held on September 23, 1997.

At-large

Councillors Francis Roache, Peggy Davis-Mullen, Dapper O'Neil, and Stephen J. Murphy were re-elected. Murphy had joined the council in February 1997, following the resignation of Richard P. Iannella. ^[1] Iannella's sister Suzanne was an unsuccessful candidate in this election. ^[2]

Candidates [3]	Preliminary Election [4]		General Election [5]		Recount [6]
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
Francis Roache (incumbent)	17,495	18.4%	32,029	16.9%
Peggy Davis-Mullen (incumbent)	12,116	12.8%	28,280	14.9%
Dapper O'Neil (incumbent)	14,310	15.1%	27,591	14.6%
Stephen J. Murphy (incumbent)	15,247	16.1%	26,702	14.1%	26,736
Suzanne Iannella	11,325	11.9%	26,505	14.0%	26,561
Frank N. Jones	9,912	10.4%	24,892	13.1%
Paul J. Gannon	9,292	9.8%	17,131	9.0%
Pamela A. Smith	2,700	2.8%	6,287	3.3%
Anthony A. Schinella	2,505	2.6%

District 1

Councillor Diane J. Modica lost her seat to Paul Scapicchio.

Candidates [3]	Preliminary Election [7]		General Election [8]
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Paul Scapicchio	3,766	55.5%	5,881	52.8%
Diane J. Modica (incumbent)	2,685	39.6%	5,256	47.2%
Alfred V. Siciliano Jr.	245	3.6%
Carlos Rosas	86	1.3%

District 2

Councillor James M. Kelly was re-elected.

Candidates [3]	General Election [8]
	Votes	%
James M. Kelly (incumbent)	6,989	83.5%
Andrew McKinnon	1,383	16.5%

District 3

Councillor Maureen Feeney was re-elected.

Candidates [3]	Preliminary Election [7]		General Election [8]
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Maureen Feeney (incumbent)	3,066	71.2%	4,951	71.8%
Barry J. Mullen	707	16.4%	1,940	28.2%
John M. Comerford	531	12.3%

District 4

Councillor Charles Yancey was re-elected.

Candidates [3]	Preliminary Election [7]		General Election [8]
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Charles Yancey (incumbent)	1,166	52.5%	2,781	64.2%
Bill Owens	632	28.5%	1,552	35.8%
Vikki Middleton	374	16.9%
J. R. Rucker	47	2.1%

District 5

Councillor Daniel F. Conley was re-elected.

Candidates [3]	General Election [8]
	Votes	%
Daniel F. Conley (incumbent)	7,591	84.6%
Daniel Esdale	1,383	15.4%

District 6

Councillor Maura Hennigan was re-elected.

Candidates [3]	General Election [8]
	Votes	%
Maura Hennigan (incunmbent)	6,903	82.4%
Edgar Williams	1,478	17.6%

District 7

Councillor Gareth R. Saunders was re-elected.

Candidates [3]	Preliminary Election [7]		General Election [8]
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Gareth R. Saunders (incumbent)	851	40.5%	2,278	61.4%
Althea Garrison	360	17.1%	1,430	38.6%
Roy A. Owens	349	16.6%
Anthony Crayton	341	16.2%
Robert L. Terrell	200	9.5%

District 8

Councillor Thomas M. Keane Jr. was re-elected.

Candidates [3]	General Election [8]
	Votes	%
Thomas M. Keane Jr. (incumbent)	2,286	74.7%
Lynda McNally	776	25.3%

District 9

Councillor Brian Honan was re-elected.

Candidates [3]	General Election [8]
	Votes	%
Brian Honan (incumbent)	3,677	88.7%
Aramis Camps	469	11.3%

See also

• List of members of the Boston City Council
• 1997 Boston mayoral election

References

1. Flint, Anthony (February 3, 1997). "Persevering candidate finally sworn in as city councilor" . The Boston Globe . p. B.3. Retrieved March 5, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.
2. Chacon, Richard (June 5, 1997). "Council agenda: self-preservation Races may be toughest in city this election" . The Boston Globe . p. B.1. Retrieved March 6, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.
3. "At-large, district candidates in the Boston City Council election City Council At-Large" . The Boston Globe . November 2, 1997. p. 6. Retrieved March 5, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.
4. Anand, Geeta (September 24, 1997). "At-large city councilors top ticket In a District 1 shocker, Scapicchio decisively tops incumbent Modica" . The Boston Globe . p. B.1. Retrieved March 6, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.
5. Flint, Anthony (November 5, 1997). "At-large incumbents hang on Roache coasts as 3 others scramble to keep seats; Iannella is edged out" . The Boston Globe . p. B.1. Retrieved March 5, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.
6. Flint, Anthony (November 25, 1997). "Recount confirms Murphy's victory in council race" . The Boston Globe . p. B.3. Retrieved March 6, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.
7. Flint, Anthony (September 24, 1997). "Unlucky day for Diane Modica, No. 13 on ballot East Boston incumbent is outpolled by Scapicchio" . The Boston Globe . p. B.2. Retrieved March 6, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.
8. Flint, Anthony (November 5, 1997). "District City Councilor final election" . The Boston Globe . p. B.4. Retrieved March 5, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.

Further reading

• "FOR DISTRICT COUNCILOR" . The Boston Globe . October 27, 1997. p. B.8. Retrieved March 6, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.
• "Two for the Boston City Council" . The Boston Globe . October 30, 1997. p. A.22. Retrieved March 6, 2018– via pqarchiver.com.
• "Charlestown Patriot and Somerville Chronicle" (PDF). Vol. 40, no. 3. October 23, 1997. Retrieved March 6, 2018– via docdroid.net.