2021 election

As the results from precincts across District 7 trickled into her Nubian Square campaign office, Tania Fernandes Anderson took to the stage to acknowledge what had long seemed like a forgone conclusion: she handily defeated perennial candidate Roy Owens, the unconventional Roxbury minister whose anti-Muslim rhetoric failed to sway voters.

After months of knocking on doors, holding rallies and attempting to get their messages out, it’s now time for those efforts to be put to the test for candidates on Boston’s 2021 ballot. Here’s a summary of everything voters can expect to see as they head to the polls on Nov. 2.

After preliminary voting narrowed down the field of candidates vying for the District 7 city council seat soon to be vacated by acting Mayor Kim Janey, two remain –– Tania Anderson and Roy Owens Sr.

With at-large City Councilors Annissa Essaibi George and Michelle Wu the two finalists in the race for the mayor’s seat, activists and elected officials in the city’s Black, Latino and Asian communities are facing tough decisions on whom and whether to endorse for the Nov. 2 election.

The departure of former Mayor Martin Walsh in March set off a domino effect, leading to a bumper crop of candidates for the mayoral and City Council seats in Boston. Among those running for mayor are two district and two at-large councilors, whose newly open seats have drawn large and diverse fields of candidates.

When it comes to marshalling dozens of volunteers, printing and distributing campaign literature and paying for staff, campaign cash is the oil that greases the electoral machine.

Boston Mayor Kim Janey picked up key endorsements last week from the prominent Arroyo family as well as a leading progressive state legislator, boosting her campaign to hold on to power at City Hall in a close mayoral contest.

In a June poll from Suffolk University and The Boston Globe, respondents selected housing as the most important issue that would affect their vote for mayor.

Acting Boston Mayor Kim Janey celebrated the 100th day since her swearing-in ceremony last Friday at the Museum of African American History on Beacon Hill.

Acting Mayor Kim Janey led the field of the six major mayoral candidates in fundraising for May with $162,794, but remains behind Michelle Wu and Andrea Campbell in total cash raised. The two city councilors each have raised about $1.2 million.

Of the six lead candidates running for mayor, none backs a fully elected school committee, only one supports rent control.

Nothing sparks political ambitions more than an open seat. In Boston’s municipal elections this year, the departure of former Mayor Martin Walsh and those of the four city councilors who are among those vying for the open mayoral seat have generated a bumper crop of candidates.