2021 Boston mayoral election
The 2021 Boston mayoral election was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, to elect the mayor of Boston, Massachusetts. Incumbent mayor Marty Walsh was eligible to seek a third term. However, he resigned as mayor on March 22, 2021, after being confirmed as secretary of labor in the Cabinet of Joe Biden. This left the Boston City Council president, at the time Kim Janey, to hold the role of acting mayor until the victor of the election would take office.
| ||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 32.66% 4.86 pp | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||||||||||||||
Wu: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% >90% Essaibi George: 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% 80–90% | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| Elections in Massachusetts |
|---|
| Massachusetts portal |
| ||
|---|---|---|
|
Boston City Councilor
Mayor of Boston
|
||
Since more than two candidates qualified for the ballot, a non-partisan preliminary election was held on September 14 in order to determine which two candidates would advance to the general election. On the morning of September 15, the counting of ballots reached 100% reporting with Michelle Wu as the first-place winner and Annissa Essaibi George in a second place. As the two top vote-getters, they advanced to face each other in the general election. Wu won the general election on November 2 by 28 points, with her victory making her both the first woman and person of color to be elected as mayor of Boston. The total number of votes cast for Wu in the general election was greater than for any mayoral candidate since 1983.
To advance to the general election, Wu and Essiabi George (both at-large city councilors) outperformed Andrea Campbell (a district city councilor), Kim Janey (acting mayor and district councilor), and John Barros (the city’s former chief of economic development) in the nonpartisan primary.