Politics

We asked Boston’s city council candidates about the city’s most pressing issues. Here are their answers.

The general election will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 2.

Six district seats are up for grabs this election – District 3, District 4, District 5, District 6, District 7, and District 9 – and eight candidates will be competing for four at-large seats.

By Mia McCarthy and Mihiro Shimano

2 minutes to read

The election for Boston’s city council is officially under way, with 18 Bostonians vying for a variety of at-large and district seats on the city’s governing body. Early voting for Boston’s elections ran from Oct. 23 to Oct. 29, and those who didn’t take part in early or mail-in voting will head to the polls this Tuesday, Nov. 2.

From the 17 at-large candidates during primary election in September, eight have moved forward to the general election. Six district seats are also up for grabs this election – District 3, District 4, District 5, District 6, District 7, and District 9.

With the mayoral race also ongoing, two out of the four current at-large councilors — mayoral candidates Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi George, who are facing off in the general election — will not be on the City Council ballot.

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Andrea Campbell‘s District 4 seat and Kim Janey‘s District 7 seat also opened up since the two ran mayoral campaigns during the primaries. District 6’s seat is also open after current councilor Matt O’Malley announced he would not be seeking reelection.

After surveying at-large candidates before the primary election in September, we surveyed both at-large and district city council candidates for Tuesday’s general election.

Boston.com gave an overview of the at-large candidates’ platforms – plus their Dunkin’ orders – in the primary questionnaire to give readers a better understanding of the candidates. In this survey, we asked all remaining candidates about their stances on some of the city’s most pressing issues: the Mass. & Cass crisis, gentrification, the police budget, Boston Public Schools, as well as what their top two priorities would be as councilor.

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All eight of the at-large candidates and 10 out of 15 district candidates answered the survey. Each candidate’s Q&A is linked below in the order they appear on the ballot.

Candidates for at-large city councilor

Candidates for district city councilor

Find out which district contains your neighborhood is here.

  • District 1 (Read Q&A here)
  • District 2 (Read Q&A here)
  • District 3 (Read Q&A here)
  • District 4 (Read Q&A here)
  • District 5 (Read Q&A here)
  • District 6 (Read Q&A here)
  • District 7 (Candidates Tania Anderson and Roy Owens did not respond to Boston.com’s questionnaire. Neighborhoods represented by District 7 include parts of Roxbury, South End and Dorchester.)
  • District 8 (Candidate Kenzie Bok did not respond to Boston.com’s questionnaire. Neighborhoods represented by District 8 are Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Fenway-Kenmore, Mission Hill and West End.)
  • District 9 (Read Q&A here)

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