Sharon Durkan will maintain the District 8 seat on the Boston City Council for the rest of the yr, after defeating Montez Haywood in a particular election on Tuesday night time.
Durkan, a political organizer who labored for Mayor Michelle Wu and former District 8 Councilor Kenzie Bok, handily defeated Haywood, through a 70% to 29.3% margin, however should beat him once more in November to carry onto her new Beacon Hill seat.
“You won every single precinct,” Wu stated at Durkan’s marketing campaign headquarters, the place the brand new councilor-elect declared victory at about 9 p.m. “There are a lot of folks who are behind this victory with you tonight.”
Durkan, 32, stated she didn’t know that “factoid” about sweeping all the district’s precincts till it was talked about by the mayor.
“But I could feel it,” she stated, citing the conversations she was capable of have, and the way she was capable of join with voters on the marketing campaign path. “Over and over again, we were talking to people who have never had a friend in government.”
The District 8 seat has been vacant since late April, when Wu appointed Bok as administrator of the Boston Housing Authority. Durkan, chair of the Ward 5 Democrats, acquired endorsements from each Bok and the mayor within the weeks main as much as the particular election.
Durkan has additionally benefited from the assist of different Democratic lawmakers, based on her marketing campaign web site, which lists endorsements from U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, House Majority Leader Michael Moran and two different state representatives, Boston City Council President Ed Flynn and three different councilors, and two state senators.
Haywood, who has labored as a prosecutor with the Suffolk County District Attorney’s workplace for 17 years, addressed the assist his opponent had acquired from Boston’s Democratic institution hours earlier than the polls closed. Despite the endorsements, he felt voters would see him because the “more qualified” candidate.
“We have received nothing but positive responses so far,” Haywood, 43, informed the Herald late Tuesday afternoon. “It’s not lost on me that the inside baseball, the political machine that is the Democratic Party in Boston is sided with Sharon. However, I feel the people of the district are with me.”
He stated he has “every intention” of constant to run, and plans to spend the remainder of the summer season campaigning in preparation for the Nov. 7 election.
Durkan addressed the huge assist she acquired in a speech to supporters, saying that typically it will probably appear that there’s one thing “sinister” happening when a candidate is ready to rake in “every single endorsement.”
Rather, she stated the endorsements present that lots of people in authorities have been capable of join along with her. She dedicated to specializing in constituent providers throughout her time on the City Council.
“I am so appreciative,” Durkan stated. “I haven’t fully processed that this is all happening, but when I do, you’ll all be getting a thank-you note.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”