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, while Ricardo Arroyo (District 5) and Kendra Lara (District 6) were defeated.
Election schedule Key dates relating to the election were as follows: +2023 Boston election scheduleSeptember 2Last day for registration for primary electionSeptember 5Last day to request mail ballot for primary electionSeptember 12Preliminary electionOctober 28Last day for registration for general electionOctober 31Last day to request mail ballot for general electionNovember 7General election
Summary 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.
DistrictIncumbentRanResultAt-largeMichael F. FlahertyNoRuthzee LouijeuneYesJulia MejiaYesErin MurphyYes1Gabriela ColettaYes2Ed Flynn Yes3Frank BakerNo4Brian WorrellYes5Ricardo ArroyoYes6Kendra LaraYes7Tania Fernandes AndersonYes8Sharon DurkanYes9Liz BreadonYes Council President
Results At-large
2023 Boston City Council at-large electionCandidateGeneral electionVotes% 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-ins1,6573.88 Total 219,050 100
District 1 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. Incumbent Coletta then ran unopposed for election to a full term.
2023 Boston City Council District 1 electionCandidatesGeneral ElectionVotes% Gabriela Coletta (incumbent) 5,725 95.62 Write-ins 262 4.38 Total 5,987 100
District 2 2023 Boston City Council District 2 electionCandidatesGeneral ElectionVotes% Ed Flynn (incumbent) 7,552 97.81 Write-ins 169 2.19 Total 7,721 100
District 3 2023 Boston City Council District 3 electionCandidatePrimary electionGeneral electionVotes%Votes%John FitzGerald 2,77743.075,13358.24Joel Richards1,23719.193,65041.41Ann Walsh1,15117.85 Matthew Patton5508.53 Jennifer Johnson2714.20 Barry Lawton2373.68 Rosalind Wornum2133.30 Write-ins110.17310.35Total6,4471008,814100
District 4 2023 Boston City Council District 4 electionCandidatesGeneral ElectionVotes% Brian Worrell (incumbent) 4,656 97.51 Write-ins 119 2.49 Total 4,775 100
District 5 2023 Boston City Council District 5 electionCandidatePrimary electionGeneral electionVotes%Votes%Enrique Pepén3,04740.425,78152.75Jose Ruiz2,30230.535,13446.84Ricardo Arroyo (incumbent)1,39718.53 Jean-Claude Sanon76610.16 Write-ins270.36450.41Total7,53910010,960100
District 6 2023 Boston City Council District 6 electionCandidatePrimary electionGeneral electionVotes%Votes%Benjamin Weber4,95142.259,45160.70William King4,38437.426,08938.74Kendra Lara (incumbent)2,35120.06 Write-ins310.26880.56Total9,84910015,718100
District 7 2023 Boston City Council District 7 electionCandidatePrimary electionGeneral electionVotes%Votes%Tania Fernandes Anderson (incumbent)1,44857.463,71970.36Althea Garrison52120.671,50028.45Roy Owens Sr.2389.44 Jerome King2007.94 Padma Scott712.82 Write-ins421.67631.19Total2,5201005,273100
District 8 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. Incumbent Durkan then ran for election to a full term.
2023 Boston City Council District 8 electionCandidatesGeneral ElectionVotes% Sharon Durkan (incumbent) 3,818 70.70 Montez Haywood 1,546 28.63Write-ins360.67 Total 5,400 100
District 9 2023 Boston City Council District 9 electionCandidatesGeneral ElectionVotes% Liz Breadon (incumbent) 4,399 65.95 Jacob deBlecourt 2,222 33.31 Write-ins 490.73 Total 6,670 100
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