2023 Boston City Council election
 | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
13 seats on the Boston City Council | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||
 Composition of the Boston City Council by political party[a] | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
| Elections in Massachusetts |
|---|
 |
 Massachusetts portal |
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:
| 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.
.jpg)
| 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[edit]
- ^ Officially nonpartisan
References[edit]
- ^ Wuthmann, Walter (November 8, 2023). "Boston City Council retains progressive majority in election". WBUR-FM. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
- ^ Reilly, Adam (September 12, 2023). "Arroyo and Lara lose races in controversy-packed 2023 Boston preliminary election". WGBH. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "2023 Election Calendar". Boston.gov. December 22, 2016. Archived from the original on August 14, 2023. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
- ^ "Vote by Mail in Boston". Boston.gov. June 29, 2022. Archived from the original on August 14, 2023. Retrieved August 14, 2023.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Gavin, Christopher (May 4, 2022). "Gigi Coletta is Boston's newest city councilor". Boston.com. Retrieved November 17, 2022.
- ^ "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.
- ^ a b c d "Unofficial Election Results". Boston.gov. Archived from the original on October 26, 2023. Retrieved December 30, 2023.
- ^ Guffey, Alysa (July 25, 2023). "Sharon Durkan wins special election for Boston City Council District 8 seat". The Boston Globe. Retrieved August 9, 2023.