The2013 Boston mayoral election occurred on Tuesday, November 5, 2013. IncumbentmayorThomas Menino had declined to run for re-election to a sixth term. A non-partisanpreliminary election was held on Tuesday, September 24, 2013. 12 candidates made the ballot to replace Menino, with state representativeMarty Walsh andat-large city councilorJohn R. Connolly advancing to the general election. Walsh was elected to his first term, defeating Connolly by 3% of the vote, and was inaugurated on Monday, January 6, 2014.[2]
Walsh and Connolly advanced to the general election after outperforming a crowded field in the nonpartisan primary. Other candidates in the primary includedCharlotte Golar Richie (former state representative and former city chief of housing & neighborhood development),Daniel F. Conley (Suffolk County district attorney and former district city councilor),Felix G. Arroyo (at-large city councilor),John Barros (civic organizer and formerBoston School Committee member),Robert Consalvo (state representative),Michael P. Ross (district city councilor),Bill Walczak (community activist), andCharles Yancey (district city councilor).
Incumbent mayorThomas Menino had held office ever since ascending to the mayoralty following the resignation ofRaymond Flynn in 1993. In 2013, Menino opted against seeking what would have been his sixth elected term as mayor. He announced his decision not to seek reelection on March 27, 2013.[3]
Without an incumbent seeking reelection, this made the 2013 election the first open election since1984, thirty years earlier.[3] Menino did not endorse a candidate.[4]
Will Dorcena, activist and at-large candidate for city council in2011, brother of State SenatorLinda Dorcena Forry(failed to get enough signatures)[20][21]
Althea Garrison, former state representative(ran for councilor-at-large)[19]
John Laing, businessman (failed to get enough signatures)[22]
Divo Rodrigues Monteiro, educator and poet[23](ran for city council in District 4)[19]
Incumbent mayorTom Menino had served since being elected to the position in1993, making him the longest-serving mayor in Boston's history.[39] The first candidate to announce a campaign for mayor was at-Large Boston City CouncillorJohn R. Connolly in February 2013, who announced an intent to base his campaign on reforming public education and opposing the influence of theBoston Teachers Union.[40] Connolly's campaign was considered to have little chance of succeeding if Menino decided to run for re-election, as the incumbent was highly popular in the city.[40] On March 28, Menino announced that he would not be seeking re-election, stating that health issues were preventing him from carrying out his tasks as mayor to a satisfactory standard.[41]
Soon after Menino's announcement, a field of candidates began to amass. On April 3, Suffolk County District AttorneyDan Conley became the second candidate to join the field (after Connolly).[42] The next day, district city councillorRob Consalvo (a resident of theHyde Park neighborhood) announced his candidacy. On April 7, activistBill Walczak (a resident of theDorchester neighborhood) entered the field.[43][44] On April 10, state representativeMarty Walsh and at-large city councillorFelix G. Arroyo both announced their candidacies.[45] Several other candidates, including City CouncillorsMichael P. Ross andCharles Yancey, former state representativeCharlotte Golar Richie, andBoston School Committee memberJohn Barros announced campaigns over the following weeks. In total, twelve candidates made the ballot for the preliminary election.[46]
Connolly’s status as the only mayoral candidate to have announced a campaign before Menino declared that he would not run for re-election gave him an advantage in that it had given him more time to build a campaign apparatus and political platform.[47]
Upon his entry into the race Walsh had demonstrated organizational strength by gathering the required signatures to get on the ballot in a single day, which impressed political insiders and showcased the influence of the labor unions who were supporting his candidacy.[48] The advantages enjoyed by the two men led to them being considered the frontrunners for the two spots in the general election in the campaign's early stages.[48]
By mid-September, it was suggested by radio stationWBUR-FM that a clear top tier of candidates had arisen in the race, consisting of Connolly, Walsh, Golar Richie, Arroyo and Conley.[49] Golar Richie's campaign was viewed as having gained significant momentum by this stage on the race, helped by her status as the most prominent black and only female candidate in the race.[49]
Both Connolly and Walsh were regarded as liberal Democrats, with Connolly being perceived as being focused on education and Walsh having the reputation of being the candidate of organised labor.[71] Connolly was considered the frontrunner as the campaign began, as he was more well-known and was considered to have a superior field organisation to Walsh.[72] However, Walsh's campaign was boosted by large spending by labor unions, who were dissatisfied with Connolly due to his staunch support forcharter schools.[72] Connolly raised objections to the support that Walsh had received, arguing that it would make him beholden to the unions if he were to win, but he made sure to temper his criticism to avoid alienating labor unions from his campaign completely.[71] Walsh responded to this criticism by arguing that his ties to labor would make him more effective at negotiating contracts and preventing strikes.[71] Walsh's campaign was also boosted by endorsements from his preliminary rivals Golar Richie, Barros and Arroyo.[73]
The relative lack of policy differences between the candidates led to the election largely coming down to a contest between biographies and personalities. Walsh supporters derided Connolly as a "corporate lawyer" while Connolly supporters characterised Walsh as a puppet of organized labor.[73] Connolly's base of support largely came from his home neighborhood ofWest Roxbury and the relatively affluent communities in Boston's west, while Walsh had support from both the more working-class, culturally conservative areas inSouth Boston and from left-wing activists who had been invigorated byElizabeth Warren's successfulcampaign for U.S. Senate the previous year.[74][73]
John Connolly delivering hisconcession speech after the November election
Walsh defeated Connolly by a narrow margin of 3.5%, with Connolly conceding and stating he believed Walsh would be a successful mayor.[90] There were a total of 560write-in votes, the largest recipient of these beingbaseball playerDavid Ortiz.[91]
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Ward results
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