2023 Boston City Council election

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2023 Boston City Council election
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13 seats on the Boston City Council
 Majority party
 
Party Democratic
Last election13
Boston City Council partisanship 2020.svg
Composition of the Boston City Council by political party [lower-alpha 1]
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.

Contents

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

Key dates relating to the election were as follows:

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

Summary

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 Ed Flynn 53602558539 o (1).jpg
Ed Flynn, council president at the time of the election
DistrictIncumbentRanResult
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

At-large

2023 Boston City Council at-large election
CandidateGeneral election [6]
Votes%
Ruthzee Louijeune (incumbent)44,47920.31
Erin Murphy (incumbent)43,38319.81
Julia Mejia (incumbent)39,65618.10
Henry Santana 34,01415.53
Bridget Nee-Walsh26,67412.18
Shawn Nelson10,4484.77
Clifton Braithwaite10,2364.67
Catherine Vitale8,5033.88
Write-ins 1,6573.88
Total219,050100

District 1

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
CandidatesGeneral Election [6]
Votes%
Gabriela Coletta (incumbent)5,72595.62
Write-ins 2624.38
Total5,987100

District 2

2023 Boston City Council District 2 election
CandidatesGeneral Election [6]
Votes%
Ed Flynn (incumbent)7,55297.81
Write-ins 1692.19
Total7,721100

District 3

2023 Boston City Council District 3 election
CandidatePrimary election [9] General election [6]
Votes%Votes%
John FitzGerald 2,77743.075,13358.24
Joel Richards1,23719.193,65041.41
Ann Walsh1,15117.85 
Matthew Patton5508.53 
Jennifer Johnson2714.20 
Barry Lawton2373.68 
Rosalind Wornum2133.30 
Write-ins 110.17310.35
Total6,4471008,814100

District 4

2023 Boston City Council District 4 election
CandidatesGeneral Election [6]
Votes%
Brian Worrell (incumbent)4,65697.51
Write-ins 1192.49
Total4,775100

District 5

2023 Boston City Council District 5 election
CandidatePrimary election [9] General election [6]
Votes%Votes%
Enrique Pepén 3,04740.425,78152.75
Jose Ruiz2,30230.535,13446.84
Ricardo Arroyo (incumbent)1,39718.53 
Jean-Claude Sanon76610.16 
Write-ins 270.36450.41
Total7,53910010,960100

District 6

2023 Boston City Council District 6 election
CandidatePrimary election [9] General election [6]
Votes%Votes%
Benjamin Weber 4,95142.259,45160.70
William King4,38437.426,08938.74
Kendra Lara (incumbent)2,35120.06 
Write-ins 310.26880.56
Total9,84910015,718100

District 7

2023 Boston City Council District 7 election
CandidatePrimary election [9] General election [6]
Votes%Votes%
Tania Fernandes Anderson (incumbent)1,44857.463,71970.36
Althea Garrison 52120.671,50028.45
Roy Owens Sr2389.44 
Jerome King2007.94 
Padma Scott712.82 
Write-ins 421.67631.19
Total2,5201005,273100

District 8

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
CandidatesGeneral Election [6]
Votes%
Sharon Durkan (incumbent)3,81870.70
Montez Haywood1,54628.63
Write-ins 360.67
Total5,400100

District 9

2023 Boston City Council District 9 election
CandidatesGeneral Election [6]
Votes%
Liz Breadon (incumbent)4,39965.95
Jacob deBlecourt2,22233.31
Write-ins 490.73
Total6,670100

Notes

  1. ↑ Officially nonpartisan

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erin Murphy (Massachusetts politician)</span> American politician and educator

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References

  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. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "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. 1 2 3 4 "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.
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