Politics & Government

Ward 3 Dems Endorse Four for Boston City Council Seats

Candidates for District 1, 2 and at-large Boston City Council seats were invited to speak at a forum held July 10 at the Nazzaro Center.

Boston’s Ward 3 Democratic Committee voted Wednesday night to endorse four candidates for City Council following a two-and-a-half hour forum at the Nazzaro Center.

With a minimum of 14 votes required for a candidate endorsement, the committee voted to support incumbent Sal LaMattina for District 1 city councilor and incumbents Ayanna Pressley and Stephen Murphy and candidate Michelle Wu for at-large city councilor.

Although both candidates running for District 2 city councilor were present at the forum, neither one garnered enough votes to receive an endorsement. Incumbent Bill Linehan received eight votes from the committee, while candidate Suzanne Lee received four votes, with 10 abstaining.

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It was a long night for members of the Ward 3 Democratic Committee, which represents the North End and Waterfront neighborhoods as well as Downtown, the Financial District, Beacon Hill, West End, Bulfinch Triangle, South End, Chinatown and the Leather District. Along with two each from the District 1 and District 2 races, the committee heard from 14 candidates running for the four at-large council seats.

The meeting ran past the 7 p.m. closing time for the Nazzaro Center, but a staff member agreed to stay to allow candidates to finish their presentations.

Find out what's happening in North Endwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Another sign this year’s City Council race is a full one: At-large candidate Annissa Essaibi George, who owns the Stitch House in Dorchester and worked on her knitting while waiting to speak, noted, “I ran out of yarn tonight.”

All 22 voting members of the Ward 3 Committee threw their support behind at-large incumbent Pressley, while 20 voted for Murphy and 20 voted for Wu. Charlestown resident Jack Kelly received eight votes—not enough to earn the fourth at-large endorsement—while Ramon Soto received five votes, Michael Flaherty received four and Jeffrey Ross received one vote.

In the District 1 race, LaMattina received 21 votes, while opponents John Ribeiro and Brian Gannon received zero votes. There was one abstention. Neither LaMattina nor Gannon attended the July 10 forum; however, State Rep. Aaron Michlewitz spoke in support of LaMattina, noting that the city councilor was on a family trip that had been scheduled before the forum was set.

Citywide, voters will head to the polls on Sept. 24 to narrow the race for Boston mayor and City Council, with the final election set it November.

Look for more coverage of Wednesday night’s candidates’ forum—including video and quotes from the candidates—this week on North End Patch.


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