Kim Janey, a passionate education advocate, will be the first woman to represent Roxbury on the Boston City Council in the modern era.
Powered by a strong corps of female campaign volunteers and a large family with deep roots in the neighborhood, Janey defeated Rufus Faulk, an anti-violence youth worker. She will succeed Dorchester Councilor Tito Jackson, who gave up his seat to challenge Mayor Marty Walsh.
Janey captured a full quarter of the vote among 13 candidates in September's preliminary election and beat Faulk with 55.5 percentage of the vote on Election Day.
"We see this big economic boom throughout the city and so many folks have been left out and are really feeling the pinch and being squeezed out of the community, so really wanting to make sure that we're doing something to address the housing crisis in our community," Janey told supporters at Merengue on Blue Hill Avenue Tuesday night after securing her win.
Since Boston adopted the current structure of its council in 1983, a succession of African-American men has represented the district that encompasses Roxbury and parts of Dorchester, the South End and Fenway. Janey is also African American.
Her victory means the new council will have no black men among its 13 members, a prospect that Faulk supporters cited as one reason to vote for him.
Janey says she's deeply grateful for being able to be the first woman to represent District 7.
"This race wasn't really about me making history," she said. "It's really about making an impact that improves the live of people who live in my community, and that's what I'm fighting for. But I am grateful for the opportunity to serve with so many beautiful, strong black women and women of color in general."
Janey, 52, overcame a teenage pregnancy and early motherhood to attend Smith College in her late twenties. For two decades, she has been a community organizer and child advocate.
She is currently senior project director for Massachusetts Advocates for Children, where she has led its effort to push changes to close achievement gaps in Boston schools for students of color, English language learners and disabled or low-income students. She has been at Mass Advocates, as the group is known, since 2001.
She has frequently attended community meetings in Roxbury and built a broad network over the years.
Her father, Clifford Janey, rose through the ranks of the Boston schools to become its chief academic officer before going on to serve as superintendent in Rochester, N.Y., Washington, D.C. and Newark, N.J.
Correction: This article has been updated to reflect that Kim Janey is the first woman to represent Roxbury on the Boston City Council in the modern era — a woman did represent Roxbury on the Boston City Council previously, in 1937.
