Preliminary election results roll in for City Council at-large seats, District 7 contests

Early results in the in the preliminary races for the slate of City Council seats showed incumbents with an edge heading into the November general election. Two races remained contested focal points key to shaping the Boston City Council on Tuesday: the at-large City Council race and the District 7 seat vacated by Tania Fernandes Anderson in early July after her conviction on federal corruption charges. In the at-large race, longtime District 3 Councilor Frank Baker, who served as a rare moderate conservative voice on the council through January 2024, and several candidates who have not yet held political office took a step forward to potentially unseating one of the four incumbents. Eight of the 10 initial candidates will advance to the general election. As of 9:50 p.m. with just under 8% of precincts reporting, Erin Murphy took an early lead with about 19%, followed by  : Council President Ruthzee Louijeune, with 17%. Incumbent progressive Julia Mejia trailed just behind, with 15%, while the challenger Baker crawled ahead of sitting Councilor Henry Santana, with 13% and 12% respectively. The rest of the field of challengers followed behind, with Wu administration employee Alexandra Valdez in the early forefront with nearly 7%. In order, Marine veteran and small business owner Marvin Dee Mathelier, Boston Water and Sewer Commission and former City Hall employee Will Onuoha, Republican Rachel Nicole Miselman, and self-described Haitian poet Yves Mary Jean followed. Santana, a first-term councilor and close ally of the mayor, was widely considered the most vulnerable ahead of Tuesday’s election. The councilor lagged early on in the drive to get enough signatures to make the ballot, while all the other incumbents maxed out their signatures ahead of the deadline. In the District 7 race, with just over 3% of precincts reporting as of 9:50 p.m., the field of eleven candidates remained too early to call. Two will advance to fight it out in November for Fernandes Anderson’s vacated District 7 seat. Of the candidates, Mavrick Afonso, who works in the Healey administration’s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities; Miniard Culpepper, senior pastor of the Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church; perennial candidate Roy Owens Sr.; Wu critic Shawn Nelson; and Jerome King, who ran for the D7 seat and was endorsed by the Herald in 2023 got early votes. The race also includes Said Ahmed, and Said Abdikarim, Samuel Hurtado, Wawa Bell, Natalie Juba-Sutherland and Tchad Akilah Cort. Related Articles Boston Preliminary Election: Hyde Park polling place runs into tabulator issue In the other Boston districts, only four sitting councilors had more than one challenger and appeared on Tuesday’s ballot: District 1 Councilor Gabriel Coletta Zapata, District 2 Councilor Ed Flynn, Council Vice President Brian Worrell, and District 5 Councilor Enrique Pepén. Two district saw incumbents face a single challenger, District 6 Councilor Benjamin Weber and District 9 Councilor Liz Breadon, meaning both candidates automatically moved to the general election in November. Both District 3 and 8 Councilors John FitzGerald and Sharon Durkan are running unopposed.