Before the results were known on election night, Priorities for Progress, which the Boston Globe recently described as “a political action committee that promotes a middle ground for Democrats,” released a Sept. 11-12 Public Policy Polling survey that showed Wu leading each of her three prospective foes in a hypothetical general election. Wu’s 48-28 edge over Essaibi George represented her largest advantage; this is the first poll we’ve seen testing this pair against one another, though we’ll likely see more numbers in the coming weeks of this no-longer hypothetical matchup.
The March ascension of Janey, who is Black, made her both the first woman and person of color ever to lead Boston, and whoever is elected to succeed her will also make history: Wu is the daughter of immigrants from Taiwan, while Essaibi George’s father is originally from Tunisia. Campbell is also Black, which means that the top four candidates were all women of color in a city that, until now, has only elected white men as mayor. Each of these candidates, like virtually all notable Boston politicians, also identify as Democrats.
However, there are some big differences between the two general election finalists, each of whom hold citywide seats on the Boston City Council. Wu enjoys the support of Sen. Elizabeth Warren and many of the young activists who helped propel Ed Markey to victory in his own Senate primary last year. And while Essaibi George has dismissed “labels” calling her a moderate as “lazy,” she was the only major primary contender who spoke out against the idea of reallocating funds from the police budget to other areas. She also has the backing of a super PAC funded by police unions and New Balance chairman James Davis, who has donated huge sums to support Donald Trump and other Republicans.
Wu used her election night speech to declare, “This is a choice about whether City Hall tackles our biggest challenges with bold solutions or we nibble around the edges of the status quo.” Hours later, Essaibi George used her own address to argue that Wu’s pledges to make the regional subway system free and to institute rent control were not possible for a mayor to implement, declaring, “These are issues the state must address.” She added, “I want progress to be made—real progress—not just abstract ideas that we talk about.”
P.S. Janey’s defeat makes her the first incumbent to lose a Boston mayoral race since 1949, when the legendary and controversial James Michael Curley was defeated two years after he left prison. Before Janey, though, the only acting mayor to seek a full term in the seven decades since Curley was the late Thomas Menino, whose 1993 victory a few months after taking office set him on course to be The Hub’s longest-serving mayor.