By John Lynds
Boston voters tossed out two incumbents during Tuesday night’s citywide election with Dorchester resident Annissa Essaibi-George beating out longtime At-Large City Councilor and former Council President Stephen Murphy for one of the four at-large seats and Andrea Campbell ousting District 4 Councilor Charles Yancey who has served since 1983. doubled women on council.
In Charlestown George received 777 votes and finished fourth among Charlestown voters. George enjoyed several key endorsements in the final weeks of the election, including one from Charlestown resident and State Attorney General Maura Healey.
At-Large City Councilor Michelle Wu topped the ticket here with 985 votes followed by Michael Flaherty who received 966 votes and Ayanna Pressley who received 927 votes. Murphy came in fifth in Charlestown with 689 votes.
Citywide George received 23,439 votes and finished fourth. Murphy received 19,538 and his fifth place finish ended a long career as an at-large councilor. Citywide Pressley topped the ticket in the quite election that saw only 13 percent voter turnout with 31,768 votes. Pressley was followed by Wu who received 26,463 votes and Michael Flaherty who received 26,463 votes citywide.
“I feel great,” said George. “I’m excited but anxious to get to work. There’s a little bit of a transition period I’ve never experienced but it gives me the opportunity for a little downtime with the family before my swearing in in January.”
From a Charlestown perspective, George said Healey work and effort on behalf of her candidacy really helped.
“I was able to connect with the voters here and I owe a lot of gratitude to Maura (Healey) for her hard work and effort because it really played a role in my success here and citywide,” said George.
George also said she is excited to work alongside District 1 City Councilor Sal LaMattina who she has known for years during her years as a high school teacher and softball coach in his district.
“I’ve known Sal (LaMattina) for a very long time, I coached his daughter in softball and I look forward to support his work as a District Councilor and helping with the issues here and in East Boston and the North End,” said George.
In the end George said she wasn’t surprised by her victory because her campaign workers and volunteers gave it all they had throughout.
“They all worked very hard from day one and I couldn’t have asked for a more incredible team of workers and volunteers,” she said. “We planned the work and worked the plan throughout the campaign and I can’t thank them enough.”
LaMattina, who faced no challenger this election, was easily reelected to his seat that includes Charlestown, East Boston and the North End.
In Charlestown, LaMattina received 1,019 votes. District wide LaMattina received 3.142 votes.
“Although I ran unopposed we worked hard and traveled around the district to listen to and address concerns voters have,” said LaMattina. “We’ve been working hard on since I was first elected City Councilor. I want to thank all my supporters in Charlestown, East Boston and the North End and allowing me to continue fighting for these great neighborhoods.”
LaMattina said he will continue to fight for cleaner streets, an improved waterfront better schools, improved parks, quality housing for families and seniors and a stronger business community. Over in District 4, newcomer Campbell won by landslide beating Yancey 61 percent to 38 percent. Campbell will join George as the new faces on the Boston City Council thus doubling the number of women that sit of the Council.