In Boston First, Michelle Wu Will Be Next Mayor

BOSTON — Michelle Wu will be the next mayor of Boston, surviving a hotly contested preliminary election and dominating the general against fellow City Councilor Annissa Essaibi George to become the city's first woman and person of color elected to the office.

“One of my sons asked me if boys can be elected mayor of Boston," Wu said in her victory speech. "They have been and they will be again someday, but not tonight."

Essaibi George conceded shortly before 10:30 p.m.

"I want her to show this city how mothers get it done," Essaibi George said.

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Wu will have just two weeks before taking over for Acting Mayor Kim Janey, who finished Marty Walsh's term after he took a job as President Biden's labor secretary.

This was the first contested mayoral election in Boston since 2013. To get here, Wu and Essaibi George finished 1-2 in the preliminary.

Polls consistently showed Wu far in front of Essaibi George. From the moment the first results started coming in, her path was never in doubt.

But while media interest was high, community interest was not.

"Based upon the level of enthusiasm that we've seen at this point, my best estimate is 135,000 for a total turnout in [the] election in Boston," Secretary of State William Galvin said.

As of 6 p.m. 105,629 ballots were cast — a turnout of nearly 24 percent.

Meanwhile, there were 10 City council seats in play. All four at-large seats and seats in Districts 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 9 have contested races.

There were also three ballot questions to be decided.

The first one is binding, meaning if it passes it will be reflected in the City Charter, and would alter the city's budgetary process by empowering the City Council to reallocate funds in the mayor's proposed budget. It would also establish an independent Office of Participatory Budgeting.

The other two questions are both nonbinding. One would support the building of a high-voltage electrical substation along Chelsea Creek, while the other would support the city's School Committee members being elected rather than appointed by the mayor.