New Faces on City Council:Essaibi-George Elected At-Large

Boston voters tossed out two incumbents during last Tuesday’s citywide election with Dorchester resident Annissa Essaibi-George beating out At-Large City Councilor Stephen Murphy for one of the four at-large seats and Andrea Campbell ousting District 4 Councilor Charles Yancey who has served since 1983, doubling the number of women on council.

In East Boston, George, a former East Boston High School teacher and softball coach, received 902 votes and finished fourth among Eastie voters. George enjoyed several key endorsements in the final weeks of the election that helped push her to victory.

At-Large City Councilor Michael Flaherty topped the ticket in the At-Large race here with 1,045 votes followed by Michelle Wu who received 960 votes and Ayanna Pressley who received 910 votes. Murphy came in fifth in Eastie with 786 votes.

Citywide George received 23,439 votes and finished fourth. Murphy received 19,538 and his fifth place finish ended a long career as an at-large councilor. Citywide Pressley topped the ticket in the quiet election that saw only 13 percent voter turnout with 31,768 votes. Pressley was followed by Wu who received 28,891 votes and Michael Flaherty who received 26,463 votes citywide.

“I feel great,” said George. “I’m excited but anxious to get to work. There’s a little bit of a transition period I’ve never experienced but it gives me the opportunity for a little downtime with the family before my swearing in in January.”

George said Attorney General Maura Healey’s work and effort on behalf of her candidacy really helped.

“I was able to connect with the voters here and I owe a lot of gratitude to Maura (Healey) for her hard work and effort because it really played a role in my success here and citywide,” said George.

George also said she is excited to work alongside District 1 City Councilor Sal LaMattina who she has known for years during her years as a high school teacher and softball coach in his district.

“I’ve known Sal (LaMattina) for a very long time, I coached his daughter in softball and I look forward to support his work as a District Councilor and helping with the issues here and in East Boston and the North End,” said George.

In the end George said she wasn’t surprised by her victory because her campaign workers and volunteers gave it all they had throughout.

“They all worked very hard from day one and I couldn’t have asked for a more incredible team of workers and volunteers,” she said. “We planned the work and worked the plan throughout the campaign and I can’t thank them enough.”

LaMattina, who faced no challenger this election, was easily re-elected to his seat that includes East Boston, Charlestown and the North End.

Locally, LaMattina received 1,330 votes. District wide LaMattina received 3.142 votes.

“Although I ran unopposed we worked hard and traveled around the district to listen to and address concerns voters have,” said LaMattina. “We’ve been working hard on since I was first elected City Councilor. I want to thank all my supporters in East Boston, Charlestown and the North End and allowing me to continue fighting for these great neighborhoods.”

Annissa Essaibi-George thanks supporters at her victory party last Tuesday night in Dorchester after beating out longtime At-Large City Councilor Stephen Murphy for one of the four at-large seats.

Annissa Essaibi-George thanks supporters at her victory party last Tuesday night in Dorchester after beating out longtime At-Large City Councilor Stephen
Murphy for one of the four at-large seats.

LaMattina said he will continue to fight for cleaner streets, an improved waterfront better schools, improved parks, quality housing for families and seniors and a stronger business community.

Over in District 4, newcomer Campbell won by landslide beating Yancey 61 percent to 38 percent. Campbell will join George as the new faces on the Boston City Council thus doubling the number of women that sit of the Council.

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