Boston’s two longest-serving city councilors ousted by political newcomers
A combined 50 years of experience will leave City Hall, after Boston’s longest-serving city councilors lost their re-election bids Tuesday.
Charles C. Yancey, who represented Boston’s District 4 since 1983, was defeated by challenger Andrea Joy Campbell — who was born in 1982. The 33-year-old Mattapan attorney won with 61 percent of the vote to 38 percent for the 66-year-old Yancey, according to unofficial results.
Yancey addressed supporters after the results came in.
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Meanwhile, Stephen J. Murphy — an at-large councilor since 1997 — was the odd candidate out in a five-way race for the four at-large council seats. With nearly 18 percent of the vote, 41-year-old Dorchester high school teacher and sewing store owner Annissa Essaibi George beat the 58-year-old Murphy, with 15 percent of the vote, for the fourth and final seat.
Annissa Essaibi-George celebrates during a party at her home in Dorchester.
Councilors Ayanna Pressley, Michelle Wu, and Michael Flaherty were re-elected to their at-large positions.
According to The Boston Globe, Murphy conceded Tuesday night at Doyle’s Cafe in Jamaica Plain, as his wife Bridget Murphy stood beside him in tears.
“We had a good run,’’ Murphy told supporters. “You all are my family.’’
Neither Campbell nor Essaibi George have any prior experience in elected office.
As the Globe noted, the results double the number of women on the 13-member council (nine district, four at-large seats) from two to four.
According to city election results, 50,807 votes were cast, putting voter turnout at 13.63 percent. The results are within decimal points of the city’s lowest election turnout to date, when 13.60 percent of registered voters cast ballots in 2007.
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