City elections: slow boil or DOA?

Conventional wisdom says that municipal elections in years without a mayoral race are slow and sleepy affairs. But that hasn’t stopped a wide range of candidates from throwing their hats in the ring for the city council races this year.

And there may be enough topics on Bostonians’ minds this year to drive up interest.

“Because there’s so many things going on, including the Olympics and questions about how that will affect Roxbury, I think you’re going to see people show interest,” said Woody Vainqueur of the RoxVote Coalition, a nonpartisan coalition that works to increase voter turnout and civic engagement in Roxbury.

Vainqueur added that the issue of the games gambit connected to bigger issues. “Housing concerns stem out of [the Olympic issue], jobs issues stem out of that,” he said. “Any candidate….should definitely ensure housing is what they’re talking about. That’s the need.”

Cheryl Crawford, Executive Director of MassVote, said the difficult winter may also have reminded people of the importance that municipal government plays in their daily lives.

“Our numbers [in communities of color] over the years have been low,” she said. “But you saw how in certain communities they dealt with snow and trash removal versus other communities that are less diverse…More attention is paid to communities with higher [voter] turnout.”

All 13 incumbents are up for re-election this year.

The candidates for the at-large seats are: incumbents Michelle Wu, Ayanna Pressley, Stephen J. Murphy and Michael F. Flaherty, as well as Annissa Essaibi George of Dorchester, Chrissanta C. Rudder of South Boston, and Bryan D. Fuller of South Boston.

Of the newcomers in the at-large race, George, who is running for the seat for the second time after a fifth-place finish in 2013, ranks closest to incumbents in terms of financial resources. According to filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance, she has raised $33,265 since she announced her candidacy in December 2014. This places her among the likes of Pressley and Murphy, both of whom have current campaign account balances around $35,000.

The at-large candidate with the largest coffers by far is Michael F. Flaherty Jr., who currently has $94,932 on deck, according to the latest OCPF filings. Michelle Wu’s coffers stand at $6,509.

In Mattapan, four candidates are vying for the District 4 seat: incumbent Charles Yancey, Andrea Campbell, Jovan Lacet and Terrance Williams.

As the Banner previously reported, Campbell has gained attention from political observers who think she presents a viable challenge to longtime incumbent Yancey.

Election buzz

Clarence Cooper, the president of the Caribbean American Political Action Committee, said he predicted District 4 turnout this year would be dampened somewhat by the fact that there is no mayoral candidate, but that he thought it would be higher than other non-mayoral voting years.

Cooper, who has endorsed Yancey, said the uptick would happen because “Campbell will bring her supporters, and also incumbent candidate supporters who usually sit back…will be invigorated.”

Crawford said that the perception that the District 4 race is more contentious than the others will help drive turnout.

“There’s some buzz about that particular race,” she said. “We’re hoping that by the candidates going out door knocking, they will increase turnout.”

Campbell has shown an apparent strong ability to fundraise. Her campaign account has $29,581 while Yancey’s has $10,589 — roughly the same amount as a few weeks ago in a previous Banner story on that race.

Lacet does not yet have financial data listed with the OCPF. Williams currently has a campaign bank balance of zero.

Meanwhile, the District 7 race has attracted a range of candidates with a wide variety of professional backgrounds: incumbent Tito Jackson, former state representative and frequent political candidate Althea Garrison, local radio station founder Charles Clemons Jr., Kevin Dwire, and veteran and community activist Haywood Fennell Sr.

Jackson has a current balance of $11,750, including a large boost in deposits – $10,846 – made in early April.

Garrison, who served in the Massachusetts legislature from 1993 to 1995 and has run several times for state legislature and city council, has registered at different times as a Democrat, Republican and Independent. She filed a 2014 year-end financial report in January that showed a zero balance and $95,338 in liabilities.

Dwire and Fennell have not yet filed information with the OCPF and Clemons currently has a campaign account of $362.

Boston will hold elections for city council on November 3, 2015. The filing deadline for candidates is May 19, 2015.