boston politics

Over the last five weeks, five candidates pulled papers to run for Boston City Council seats in this year’s election. While there’s nothing unusual about the timing — savvy candidates know an early start can be key to successful fundraising — three of the candidates share an employer who some say has played an outsized role in Council politics.

Mayor Michelle Wu kicked off 2024 with what seemed like a surplus of political strength. Also beginning the year in a position of strength was at-large Councilor Ruthzee Louijeunne, who began her second term on the body as its president.

At the dawn of 2023, Massachusetts politicians were celebrating the historic electoral victories of Maura Healey, the state’s first woman governor, and Andrea Campbell, the first Black woman elected statewide in Massachusetts history.

Much has changed in Boston since the NAACP last held its national convention in the city, in 1982. Back then, the city had a population that was majority white, a City Council with Bruce Bolling as its only member of color and a mayor whose last name matched his race, Kevin White.

Mel King’s children grew up in a household where discussions of Boston’s politics and social justice issues were commonplace.

What happens to our public institutions when democracy fails? When elected officials ignore the will of the people, governing bodies lose their independence, and the fundamental right to local democratic control is stripped away?

The South End is in many ways a study in contrasts. A neighborhood where subsidized housing developments abut luxury condo buildings, a neighborhood where Black and Latino Bostonians have deep roots, but where few have pockets deep enough to afford rents.

Mel King died last week at 94, leaving behind a legacy of social change and political activism that had a profound influence on Boston’s civic life.

In the wake of a Boston Globe investigation that suggested that interim District Attorney Kevin Hayden’s office declined to prosecute an MBTA police officer accused of misconduct, then received donations from the officer and his attorney, several local elected officials are calling on him to resign.

About seven weeks ahead of Massachusetts’ primary election, candidates presented different approaches to tackle a crisis of mental health, substance use disorders and criminal activity in the area of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard, also called Mass. and Cass.

With less than two months before the September primary, two leading candidates continue to compete to replace outgoing state Rep. Liz Miranda in the 5th Suffolk District seat.