Boston voters will determine today whether Mayor Michelle Wu gets a largely free ride in her second term on the do-nothing, dysfunctional city council.
One of the major questions heading into an expected low turnout Election Day is can Wu slash one of her stalwart supporters on the council, at-large incumbent Henry Santana, who is in danger of slipping out of the running. She is making a frantic, last-minute push to raise money and votes for Santana, a former aide who finished fourth in the preliminary election.
And, can Wu possibly pull a double victory by saving Santana’s bacon while ousting one of her nemeses, at-large Councilor Erin Murphy?
That would be a major feat for the soon-to-be-second term mayor, who herself is unopposed on the ballot.
Murphy finished a solid third in the voting in the preliminary election and would seemingly be a tough out in the general. She is hard working and has locked up support in the vote-rich Dorchester-West Roxbury-South Boston axis.
Another Election Day question is whether former Mayor Marty Walsh can successfully lift up Frank Baker, a six-term Dorchester district councilor making a comeback bid in the at-large race.
In September, Santana finished just a few thousand votes ahead of fifth place finisher Baker, a conservative who is also popular in his home neighborhood and more moderate areas of the city like West Roxbury. Baker also is being supported by state Sen. Nick Collins.
The Wu-Walsh fight is one of the major sideshows in Tuesday’s election. Baker would be a major thorn in Wu’s side if he finishes in one of the best four positions in Tuesday’s voting. If he goes down, expect more of the same from next year’s council, which didn’t exactly distinguish itself in 2025.
How low will the turnout be, is another key question. Because Wu is unopposed, that should suppress turnout among progressives and hurt the chances of liberal candidates like Santana.
But Wu has her field operation geared up to prevent Baker and Murphy from benefitting from a low turnout contest.
Baker would join Councilors Ed Flynn, John Fitzgerald and Murphy as one of the only Wu dissenters on the council. Flynn is expected to easily roll to another term in his South Boston district. The rest of the council are all Wu flunkies who mostly always go along with her priorities.
Council President Ruthzee Louijeune is expected to win the best spot in the at-large voting, but she is barred by term limits from seeking another year as council president. The jockeying for the next council president has already begun.
The Boston city council has little power under the city charter, but can vote up or down on the mayor’s budget.
The council president is the most coveted seat because that person becomes acting mayor if Wu decides to move on to the private sector or seeks another office like U.S. Senate.
Another at-large candidate, Alexandra Valdez, who is being supported by Wu and Walsh, also has a chance to crack the best four.
Coming in fifth in city council races is not meaningless. Whoever finishes fifth in the at-large race would be vaulted to the council should one of the members of the council move on.
Wu also has her eye on Tuesday night on New York City, where mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, a socialist who has called Wu his role model, is expected to win.
Mamdani has called on New York to make all buses free, have city-run grocery stores and is proposing other free stuff as part of his socialist agenda, which Wu has mostly also embraced.
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