Preliminary election results roll in for City Council at-large seats, District 7 contests

Early results in the in the preliminary races for the slate of City Council seats proved incumbents with an edge heading into the November general electoral process Two races remained contested focal points key to shaping the Boston City Council on Tuesday the at-large City Council race and the District seat vacated by Tania Fernandes Anderson in early July after her conviction on federal corruption charges In the at-large race longtime District Councilor Frank Baker who served as a rare moderate conservative voice on the council through January and several candidates who have not yet held political office took a step forward to potentially unseating one of the four incumbents Eight of the initial candidates will advance to the general polling As of p m with just under of precincts reporting Erin Murphy took an early lead with about followed by Council President Ruthzee Louijeune with Incumbent progressive Julia Mejia trailed just behind with while the challenger Baker crawled ahead of sitting Councilor Henry Santana with and respectively The rest of the field of challengers followed behind with Wu administration employee Alexandra Valdez in the early forefront with nearly In order Marine veteran and small business owner Marvin Dee Mathelier Boston Water and Sewer Commission and former City Hall employee Will Onuoha Republican Rachel Nicole Miselman and self-described Haitian poet Yves Mary Jean followed Santana a first-term councilor and close ally of the mayor was widely considered the majority of vulnerable ahead of Tuesday s vote The councilor lagged early on in the drive to get enough signatures to make the ballot while all the other incumbents maxed out their signatures ahead of the deadline In the District race with just over of precincts reporting as of p m the field of eleven candidates remained too early to call Two will advance to fight it out in November for Fernandes Anderson s vacated District seat Of the candidates Mavrick Afonso who works in the Healey administration s Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities Miniard Culpepper senior pastor of the Pleasant Hill Missionary Baptist Church perennial candidate Roy Owens Sr Wu critic Shawn Nelson and Jerome King who ran for the D seat and was endorsed by the Herald in got early votes The race also includes Explained Ahmed and Commented Abdikarim Samuel Hurtado Wawa Bell Natalie Juba-Sutherland and Tchad Akilah Cort Related Articles Boston Preliminary Ballot Hyde Park polling place runs into tabulator issue In the other Boston districts only four sitting councilors had more than one challenger and appeared on Tuesday s ballot District Councilor Gabriel Coletta Zapata District Councilor Ed Flynn Council Vice President Brian Worrell and District Councilor Enrique Pep n Two district saw incumbents face a single challenger District Councilor Benjamin Weber and District Councilor Liz Breadon meaning both candidates automatically moved to the general electoral process in November Both District and Councilors John FitzGerald and Sharon Durkan are running unopposed