4 Newcomers Set To Join A Historically Diverse Boston City Council
Source: WBUR Radio
Updated Nov 06, 2019 10:11 AM
For the first time, minority candidates will make up a majority of the Boston City Council. In Tuesday's municipal election, four progressive newcomers were poised to win seats on the legislative body, including the first-ever Latina and the first Latino in six years. With Tuesday's results, seven of the 13 councilors will be people of color. Boston is a majority-minority city. Eight of the 13 will be women.
First-time candidate Julia Mejia, a community activist, appeared to finish fourth among eight candidates to win the final at-large council seat, squeaking by fellow Latina newcomer Alejandra St. Guillen by just 10 votes, per the city's unofficial results. Mejia got 22,464 votes to St. Guillen's 22,454.
Just after midnight, St. Guillen, who led the city's Office of Immigrant Advancement, called for a recount, saying in a statement that " (e)very voter who came out and cast a ballot — whether it be absentee, in the voting booth, or provisionally — deserves a full and complete count to determine who is our next City Councilor at large."
If the unofficial results hold, Mejia would join at-large incumbents Michelle Wu, Annissa Essaibi-George and Michael Flaherty, and she would replace Althea Garrison, who moved onto the council after Ayanna Pressley won a congressional seat. Garrison, a self-described conservative, finished seventh on Tuesday.
Read more: https://www.wbur.org/news/2019/11/05/boston-city-council-election-results
There is a definitely a growing trend among the urban areas to go even deeper blue and move more to the left.
