Skip to content

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/

Menu

  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships
    • From the Collection

      Changing Child Care

      Illustration of a woman feeding a baby a bottle
      • As climate change worsens hurricane season in Louisiana, doulas are ensuring parents can safely feed their babies

        Jessica Kutz · May 5
      • Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito argued abortion isn’t an economic issue. But is that true?

        Chabeli Carrazana · May 4
      • Pregnant people are at 'greater risk' in states hit hard by wildfire smoke, air pollution, new report shows

        Jessica Kutz · April 20
    • From the Collection

      Next-Gen GOP

      Illustration of a woman riding an elephant
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • A banner year for Republican women

        Amanda Becker · November 11
      • Republican women could double representation in the U.S. House

        Amanda Becker · November 4
    • From the Collection

      On The Rise

      Illustration of three women marching
      • Biden’s new environmental justice office aims to tackle the health impacts disproportionately faced by people of color

        Jessica Kutz · June 2
      • Jessica Cisneros takes on the last anti-abortion U.S. House Democrat

        Amanda Becker · February 25
      • Meet J. Michelle Childs, South Carolina judge and possible Supreme Court contender

        Candice Norwood · February 18
    • From the Collection

      Pandemic Within a Pandemic

      Illustration of four people marching for Black Lives Matter with coronavirus as the backdrop
      • Some LGBTQ+ people worry that the COVID-19 vaccine will affect HIV medication. It won’t.

        Orion Rummler · November 23
      • Why are more men dying from COVID? It’s a complicated story of nature vs. nurture, researchers say

        Mariel Padilla · September 22
      • Few incarcerated women were released during COVID. The ones who remain have struggled.

        Candice Norwood · August 17
    • From the Collection

      Portraits of a Pandemic

      Illustration of a woman wearing a mask and holding up the coronavirus
      • For family caregivers, COVID is a mental health crisis in the making

        Shefali Luthra · October 8
      • A new database tracks COVID-19’s effects on sex and gender

        Shefali Luthra · September 15
      • Pregnant in a pandemic: The 'perfect storm for a crisis'

        Shefali Luthra · August 25
    • From the Collection

      The 19th Explains

      People walking from many articles to one article where they can get the context they need on an issue.
      • The 19th Explains: How pregnant people can prepare for a summer of heat waves

        Jessica Kutz · June 17
      • The 19th Explains: How new Title IX guidelines on sexual misconduct may give more help to survivors

        Nadra Nittle · June 14
      • The 19th Explains: How would overturning Roe v. Wade affect IVF?

        Jennifer Gerson · May 27
    • From the Collection

      The Electability Myth

      Illustration of three women speaking at podiums
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • Stepping in after tragedy: How political wives became widow lawmakers

        Mariel Padilla · May 24
      • Do term limits help women candidates? New York could be a new testing ground

        Barbara Rodriguez · January 11
    • From the Collection

      The Impact of Aging

      A number of older people walking down a path of information.
      • 'I'm planning on working until the day I die': Older women voters are worried about the future

        Mariel Padilla · June 3
      • Climate change is forcing care workers to act as first responders

        Jessica Kutz · May 31
      • Woman alleges that an assisted living facility denied her admission because she is transgender

        Sara Luterman · November 8
    • From the Collection

      Voting Rights

      A series of hands reaching for ballots.
      • Florida’s redistricting fight continues. The head of the state League of Women Voters talks about what’s at stake.

        Barbara Rodriguez · April 19
      • Women have been sounding the alarm ahead of Texas’ first-in-the-nation primary

        Barbara Rodriguez · February 28
      • LGBTQ+ people of color are at risk from rising voter restrictions as federal protections falter in the Senate, advocates say

        Orion Rummler · January 19

    View all collections

  • Explore by Topic

    • Abortion
    • Business & Economy
    • Caregiving
    • Coronavirus
    • Education
    • Election 2020
    • Elections 2022
    • Environment & Climate
    • Health
    • Immigration
    • Inside The 19th
    • Justice
    • LGBTQ+
    • Politics
    • Race
    • Sports
    • Technology

    View All Topics

Home
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

Support The 19th

As a nonprofit newsroom, members are critical to our sustainability. Your financial support helps make our journalism possible.

Become a member

Donate to support our mission

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

Michelle Wu speaks to the media
Michelle Wu speaks to the media after voting. (Photo by David L. Ryan/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

Politics

Boston will elect someone other than a White man as mayor for the first time

Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi George, both women of color, will advance to the two-person general mayoral election set for November 2.

Barbara Rodriguez

State Politics and Voting Reporter

Barbara Rodriguez portrait

Published

2021-09-15 08:48
8:48
September 15, 2021
am

Updated

2021-09-15 11:12:03.000000
America/Chicago

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Two women of color will be on the ballot in Boston’s general election for mayor in November, setting up a historic outcome when one of them is elected to the top position in a city that has exclusively elected White men to lead it.

Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi George, both at-large city councilors, secured the two top spots in Tuesday’s preliminary election among five major candidates, all people of color. The two-person general election is set for November 2. The other contenders in the race, city councilor Andrea Campbell, acting mayor Kim Janey and former economic development chief John Barros, conceded Tuesday.

Janey, Boston’s current mayor who was seeking a full term, became the first woman and Black person to hold the position after she was sworn in as acting mayor. (Marty Walsh stepped down as mayor to become U.S. labor secretary.) But a woman or person of color has never been elected mayor of Boston, one of the oldest cities in the country. Wu, an Asian American whose parents immigrated from Taiwan, and Essaibi George, who describes herself as a first-generation Arab-Polish American, will change that.

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

“That is completely new to a city that 200 years ago elected its first White man and has been electing White men ever since,” said Rachel Cobb, chair of the political science and legal studies department at Suffolk University who studies elections.

Neither Janey nor Campbell, the two Black women candidates in the race, received enough votes to advance beyond the primary. Tabitha Bonilla, assistant professor of human development and social policy at Northwestern University, said it’s too early to know whether race or local political circumstance played a role in the primary.

“It’s hard for political scientists who are doing this analysis with tons and tons of data to effectively sort out, so it could be really hard to sort out here,” she said. “We may need to do just a little bit more work to sort through what specifically happened, and it may speak to how challenges differ across different women of color.”

Erin O’Brien, associate professor of politics at University of Massachusetts Boston, said the primary “is a big deal” for Boston politics and highlights how much political calculations have changed. She suspects even a few years ago, a White cisgender man would have been in the mix of major candidates — particularly in a city with a history of racism that has permeated areas including public busing, higher education, housing and other finances.

“That to me is one of the biggest stories in this race — the number of people that didn’t jump in,” O’Brien said. “That they didn’t smell blood in the water.” 

A newsletter you can relate to

Storytelling that represents you, delivered to your inbox.

You have been subscribed!

Submitting…

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Kelly Dittmar, director of research at the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University, said it also highlights the continuing evolution of representation. In recent years, an increasing number of women and women of color have been elected mayors of some of the largest cities. That can be attributed in part to a more diverse voting electorate: Census data shows people of color make up the majority of residents. 

But more marginalized people are also getting involved in politics. 

“There are greater opportunities for those communities that have been there all along, but may have been excluded — both in formal or informal ways — from political leadership due to the strength of party gatekeepers and party bosses,” Dittmar said.

Cobb said the diverse gender and racial makeup of the primary candidates is partly due to a “transformation” over several years on the city council, where several women and people of color have been elected including Campbell, Essaibi George, Janey, Wu and Ayanna Pressley, who is now a member of Congress. Cobb said it reflected the national trend of more diverse local governments led by women of color.

“That’s a nationwide shift, but a huge momentous historic shift for Boston itself,” she said.

Wu herself alluded to that shift in her victory speech Tuesday night, noting the increase in representation on the council.

“To my colleagues on the council, my sisters, I am so proud of where we are now and so grateful for your service,” she said.

The two-person race could be a showdown between Democratic candidates with different approaches to policy. Wu, 36, supports backing universal pre-K and child care, addressing climate change through a Green New Deal and establishing free public transportation. Essaibi George, 47, a former public school teacher, has expressed support for improving similar issues but not through such proposals. She also wants to add more resources for police and find solutions to issues like homelessness and housing affordability..

“I refuse to over-promise for political points,” Essaibi George told The Boston Globe this summer. “My plans are rooted in reality.”

Cobb said all the women in the primary brought unique lived experiences that informed policy debates during the primary. 

“They’re all moms and they are talking about affordable child care, and they’re just talking about it in this way that’s really just, ‘I’ve been there. I really know this struggle. Not that I’ve observed this struggle … I know it and I live it,’” Cobb said. “I think that is different, and it’s different because it’s all of them.”

Dittmar said as the race enters a new phase, she’ll be monitoring how much of the two remaining candidates’ policy positions receive coverage versus the fact that they’re part of a historic race around their gender.

“How much will these women also be able to individualize themselves? White men are always distinguished by, ‘Well he believes this and this is his policy platform and this is what he’s done in this race.’ I think it’s a little easy to fall into, as much as we want to celebrate this sort of change.”

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

Support The 19th

As a nonprofit newsroom, members are critical to our sustainability. Your financial support helps make our journalism possible.

Become a member

Donate to support our mission

From the Collection

On The Rise

Illustration of three women marching
  • Biden’s new environmental justice office aims to tackle the health impacts disproportionately faced by people of color

    Jessica Kutz · June 2
  • Jessica Cisneros takes on the last anti-abortion U.S. House Democrat

    Amanda Becker · February 25
  • Meet J. Michelle Childs, South Carolina judge and possible Supreme Court contender

    Candice Norwood · February 18

Up Next

A doctor and a sonographer perform a sonogram on a pregnant patient inside an examination room.

Health

‘No one wants to get sued’: Some abortion providers have stopped working in Texas

Nearly half of the doctors at one of the state’s biggest providers stopped working after Texas’ new law went into effect. The law has created a chilling effect for some abortion care services.

Read the Story

The 19th
The 19th is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Our stories are free to republish in accordance with these guidelines.

  • Donate
  • Subscribe to the Newsletter
  • Attend an Event
  • Jobs
  • Fellowships
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Community Guidelines
  • Membership
  • Membership FAQ
  • Major Gifts
  • Sponsorship
  • Privacy
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram