Tuesday’s preliminary mayoral election narrowed the field down to City Councilors Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi George — ensuring the next mayor would be the city’s first woman, but also knocking out two prominent Black candidates. People across the city analyzed what the results said about the state of politics and race in Boston, and the kind of political vision and coalition that would win the day in November. Jim Braude was joined on Greater Boston by former State Senator Linda Dorcena Forry and former State Senator Dianne Wilkerson to discuss.
Dorcena Forry noted that the the vote for the three Black candidates — Kim Janey, Andrea Campbell and John Barros — totaled 43%. “Now, the campaign begins again, where these two candidates have to make the case in terms of the Black, the Latinx, the immigrant community and why should they be with them,” she said.
“No matter what happens, we are about to turn a corner in Boston and will be in a very new place,” Wilkerson said. “I was, at the same time, very much saddened that we didn’t have a Black candidate moving into the final. Because there’s more at stake than there’s ever been given the last 20 months for Black residents of Boston.”
WATCH: What do the preliminary mayoral results say about Boston — and its future?
