Last updated on September 16, 2019
Tuesday is another municipal election and there’s one interesting race to Jamaica Plain residents — the at-large Boston City Council race, which includes four incumbents and 11 challengers.
Before we dive into the at-large race, let’s briefly talk about the district races. Most of Jamaica Plain is represented by District 6, and Matt O’Malley has no challenger this time around. District 4 also has a sliver of it in Jamaica Plain, and current Boston City Council President Andrea Campbell is also unopposed. Looks like O’Malley and Campbell’s toughest opponent will be the vaunted blank vote.
Part of District 7 is in Jamaica Plain, including parts of Egleston Square, as well as the Shattuck Hospital. Incumbent Kim Janey is being opposed by perennial candidate Roy Owens and Valerie Hope Rust. Janey is expected to win easily.
The at-large race is where it gets interesting. You’ve got four incumbents: Michelle Wu, Annissa Essaibi-George, Althea Garrison and Michael Flaherty.
Wu is favored to finish first, having made a bigger name for herself as she’s taken on the troubled MBTA. Essaibi-George has been endorsed by Mayor Marty Walsh, and is a big supporter of schools. Flaherty has worked to make sure that proper zoning regulations are in tact for marijuana businesses in the city.
The challengers include Erin Murphy, Priscilla Flint-Banks, Martin Keogh, Alejandra St. Guillen, Michel Denis, Jeffrey Ross, Domingos Darosa, Herb Lozano, William King, David Halbert and Julia Mejia.
Eight candidates will advance from the preliminary to the November final, and it will be interesting to see if incumbent Althea Garrison actually makes it into the top 8. Garrison became an at-large city councilor on a technicality after Ayanna Pressley was elected to U.S. Congress. City laws dictated that the person who finished fifth in the previous election would fill her spot, and in the previous election there had only been five candidates — and Garrison came in fifth. Garrison has run in a lot of races in the past, usually placing distant from first.
Alejandra St. Guillen is one of the favored challengers. A resident of District 6, she’s been endorsed by Jamaica Plain’s state reps Liz Malia and Nika Elugardo. She’s also been sharing an office with Wu and Janey, so they’re clearly backing her, too. Oh, also, Mayor Marty Walsh has endorsed St. Guillen.
WGBH highlighted two of this year’s Latino candidates, including St. Guillen, who was the director of Boston’s Office for Immigrant Advancement, and Mejia. Mejia founded and directs the Collaborative Parent Leadership Network (CPLAN), which is comprised of community parents and students from district, charter, parochial and METCO schools. The network works with policymakers and educations to increase equal access to high-quality public education.
Erin Murphy has received numerous endorsements from 12 labor unions, and is a 20-plus year member of the Boston Teachers Union.
David Halbert doesn’t live in JP, he does have a strong connection to the neighborhood, having been the Jamaica Plain liaison for former District 6 City Councilor John Tobin. Halbert also previously worked for At-Large Boston City Councilor Sam Yoon, as well as Governor Deval Patrick. Halbert is the deputy director of community affairs at the Middlesex County Sheriff’s office. His role includes serving as the director and lead organizer for the People of Color in Criminal Justice Conference.
Click here for a full list of candidates for all Boston City Council elections.
Click here to know where you should vote. Polling stations are open 7 am to 8 pm.