Live updates: How Boston's preliminary election unfolded

Sept. 10, 12:54 p.m.

The unofficial numbers are in, and mayoral challenger Josh Kraft has a very steep climb if he wants to knock Mayor Michelle Wu out of office. Wu trounced Kraft by nearly 50 percentage points in Tuesday’s preliminary election, winning with a 72%-23% margin.

Kraft was defiant Tuesday night, insisting he would continue to campaign and knock on every door to close the gap and defeat Wu in the general election.

Maybe he can. But recent electoral history is not on his side. Boston Election Department data shows the winner of the preliminary election became mayor in each of the last four election cycles. In fact, you have to go back half a century to find the last election that saw a comeback win following a preliminary defeat.

WBUR’s Nik DeCosta-Klipa dug into the details here:

Sept. 10, 6 a.m.

The preliminary election helped whittle down the options in several Boston City Council races. Outside of the one open race in District 7, there were few surprises, with incumbents maintaining leads in all races.

Sept. 9, 11:30 p.m.

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Sept. 9, 10:50 p.m.

Photographer Amanda Sabga was out taking photos at the polls for WBUR. She and other photogs were able to capture images of civics in action in the cradle of American democracy.

Sept. 9, 8:25 p.m.

Boston voters overwhelmingly supported incumbent Mayor Michelle Wu in Tuesday's preliminary election. The Associated Press called the race for Wu just 18 minutes after polls closed. With 100% of precincts reporting, Wu finished with 72% of the vote. The second top vote getter was, as expected, Josh Kraft. He received 23% of the vote and will advance to November's ballot.

Sept. 9, 8:04 p.m.

Polls across Boston closed at 8 p.m., ending a slow preliminary election day.

All that’s left to do is wait for results. WBUR will deliver results as they come in here.

Sept. 9, 8:04 p.m.

Less than a fifth of Boston’s voters have cast a ballot as of 6 p.m. Tuesday, according to the city’s Election Department.

Just 17.8% of voters have made their voices heard thus far, and that tally isn’t likely to increase once polls close at 8 p.m.

The hotspot, if there was one, was in Wards 19 and 20, which cover parts of Jamaica Plain, Roslindale and West Roxbury. Each ward showed about 28% turnout at the 6 p.m. mark.

The wan turnout is low even by the normally pokey standards of a prelim in Boston.

Nearly 25% of registered voters cast a ballot in the 2021 preliminary election, thanks to several high-profile candidates vying to replace Marty Walsh, who months before was spirited away by the Biden administration to serve as U.S. secretary of labor. Current Mayor Michelle Wu, acting Mayor Kim Janey, current Attorney General Andrea Campbell and mayoral finalist Annissa Essabi-George were headliners in that campaign.

In 2013, the first open election following Tom Menino’s record-setting 21 years in office, more than 30% of voters packed the polls. That’s the race that would eventually crown Walsh as mayor, though he faced a stiff competitor in John Connolly.

The closest prelim in recent history to tonight’s contest was in 2017, when first-time incumbent Walsh was on the ballot and turned away a challenge from several candidates, including finalist Tito Jackson. Fewer than 15% of total ballots were cast in that race.

Sept. 9, 7:40 p.m.

Voting in Boston has gone relatively smoothly during Tuesday’s preliminary election. It's the first big test of the city’s election department, which was overhauled after a slew of issues led to ballot shortages during last year’s presidential election.

A tabulator broke down at Boston Baptist College in Hyde Park earlier in the day. City and state officials said the machine was replaced within 10 minutes and voters were still able to cast their ballots during that time. Those ballots will be hand counted at the end of the night, according to Deb O'Malley, spokeswoman for Secretary of State William Galvin's office.

“Tabulators going down is pretty routine,” O’Malley said. "It’s not ideal, but it certainly
happens and there’s procedures in place when it happens."

Boston has 10 roving teams stationed throughout the city with backup tabulator machines to respond to any issues, according to Ian Flood, the Civic Engagement Coordinator and Public Information Office for the Boston Election Department.

In two cases, Mayor Michelle Wu and City Councilor Brian Worrell delivered food to polling locations around lunch time, according to O’Malley. Galvin’s office had the Boston election department reach out to poll workers and the campaigns to remind them that candidates aren't allowed inside polling locations unless they are voting.

Earlier Tuesday morning, Galvin’s office also received a call about campaigners possibly being too close to the Holy Name Parish Hall polling location in West Roxbury, O’Malley said. No campaigning is allowed within 150 feet of a polling location.

"That is a normal complaint on election day,” O’Malley said. "Campaigners try to get as close as they can, and poll workers have to push them back."

Sept. 9, 3:33 p.m.

As of 3 p.m., more than 60,000 voters cast their ballots across Boston, according to the city’s election department. That is just over 14% of all registered voters.

The high cost of housing was at the top of mind for many who went to the polls on Tuesday.

Betty Cox, of Mission Hill, said she was motivated to vote by the issues of housing and equal opportunity.

“I would like to see more affordable housing for people who are actually working but can’t afford the landlord rental hikes, the price hikes,” said Cox. “That’s not fair.”

While she declined to say who she voted for, Cox said she was “happy with some things getting done.”

“I happen to like the people who are fighting for everything now,” she said.

In Roxbury, Emily Sesno headed out to vote in Roxbury with her husband, Chris. She listed housing and education as two of her top priorities for coming out to vote.

“We also have kids in BPS, so education is a really big one, especially, like, equity in education and making sure that, like, every school has the resources to have really good academics is important to us,” she said.

As Roxbury voters, the Sesnos also gets a say in the District 7 race. With 10 candidates on the ballot, Emily Sesno said she struggled to find information on all the candidates, and is looking forward to a smaller pool following the election to find who best aligns with her views.

But she was clear on her choice for mayor.

“I really like Wu, I like her policies and the direction she’s going,” she said, adding that she wasn’t a fan of Kraft’s candidacy.

“I just don’t honestly love the idea of what kind of feels like someone trying to come in and buy the election in a way, coming in without that city government experience, without even living here for very long,” she said.

But Lily Goode, a Back Bay voter, said she likes that Kraft would bring different experience to the office. She was driven to the polls by her support for Kraft and Frank Baker, an at-large candidate and former district city councilor.

“I think it’s always important to bring in new perspectives, new backgrounds, diversifying the people in the office who have different experiences professionally and otherwise,” Goode said. “I’m looking forward to seeing changes from the new leadership.”

Sept. 9, 1:30 p.m. 

Mayor Michelle Wu and her three kids went to the polls this morning in Roslindale, where Wu cast her ballot — presumably for herself.

Kraft spoke to reporters on Monday night. Responding to a question about a recent poll that put him 50 points behind Wu, he said people, not polls, decide elections.

“I have to say, every neighborhood we go to, there's a lot of energy, there’s a lot of passion, for our mission to make residents first,” he said.

Kraft said he plans to stay in the race despite the recent polls.

“I believe in the city of Boston,” he said. “I believe in the residents of Boston. And I'll fight for the residents of Boston.”

Earlier today, Kraft joined supporters outside polling places in Charlestown and South Boston.

In Roslindale, city council at-large candidate Frank Baker made his pitch to voters. Baker, who stepped down as District 3 councilor in 2023, is attempting a comeback.

“I’m looking to just bring my voice back into the city. I care deeply about the city of Boston,” he told WBUR’s Beth Healy. “I think I have a valuable voice and the council needs a little bit of balance.”

Asked about what he’s hearing from constituents, especially about ICE’s presence in Boston, he said he’s mostly hearing about local issues and basic city services.

“Our parks need some love. Our streets need some love. Our people need some love. The city of Boston needs some love. It's what I'm hearing more often,” he said.

By noon, almost 50,000 Bostonians had cast their ballots in the preliminary election, according to city data. That’s about 11% of the city’s registered voters.

Sept. 9, 10:22 a.m.

Endorsements are a staple of political campaigns, and incumbent Mayor Michelle Wu and the frontrunner among the challengers, Josh Kraft, have each touted several.

This week, Kraft secured the endorsement of former city councilor and mayoral candidate Annissa Essaibi George (who lost to Wu in 2021). Former state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, who served a federal prison sentence for taking bribes, also said she supports Kraft. Union Laborers’ Local 22 and the ironworker’s union endorsed Kraft back in the spring.

Mayor Wu has the endorsement of Massachusetts’ Democratic political elite, with both U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey supporting her, along with Rep. Ayanna Pressley (with whom she served on the Boston City Council). More than two dozen other local elected officials endorsed her. And she’s racked up a bunch of labor union endorsements, from the local chapter of the Teamsters to the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association.

In the “community leaders” category, Wu lists former Red Sox slugger David Ortiz and former Boston First Lady Angela Menino as supporters. Kraft, meanwhile, got the endorsement of Roxbury native Ronnie DeVoe, of New Edition and Bel Biv DeVoe.

Kraft's father, Patriots' owner Robert Kraft, also made a pitch to voters to not see Kraft as a privileged heir to a family fortune, but to judge him on his own merits. The younger Kraft has tried to draw a contrast between his politics and that of his father, who had close associations with President Trump.

The state’s top Democrat, Gov. Maura Healey, has so far declined to endorse either Wu or Kraft. "I'm going to let the voters decide that tomorrow," she said on Monday.

Sept. 9, 8:48 a.m.

The top eight will move on to the November ballot. You can see their policy differences in this piece, where the Dorchester Reporter asked them about issues ranging from Carney Hospital to their role models.

The candidates include four incumbents (Ruthzee Louijeune, Julia Mejia, Erin Murphy and Henry Santana), a former District 3 councilor (Frank Baker), and five new candidates (Yves Mary Jean, Marvin Mathelier, Rachel Nicole Miselman, Will Onuoha and Alexandra Valdez).

Meanwhile, over in District 7, there are 11 candidates in the open race. Boston.com has a roundup of the candidates.

Sept. 9, 7:25 a.m.

Things will be different at Boston’s election department this year, WBUR’s Zeninjor Enwemeka reports.

That’s after a cascade of issues during last year’s presidential election. Several polling locations ran out of ballots and there were communication issues between the city and polling places. That led Secretary of State Bill Galvin to put the election’s department in receivership.
Galvin said there shouldn’t be any issues this year.

“We're very confident all the ballots that will be necessary for the voters will be in place at the polling place,” he said. “They will not have any risk of running out of ballots."

Galvin says Boston's election department will also be thoroughly staffed to field calls from poll workers and voters to address any potential issues that come up.

Sept. 9, 7 a.m.

It's Election Day in Boston and polls opened at 7 a.m. Voters will narrow the fields for mayor and city council races.

The top of the ticket pits Mayor Michelle Wu against philanthropist Josh Kraft, community activist Domingos DaRosa and former school committee member Robert Cappucci. The top two vote getters move on to the November ballot.

There are also contested city council races. Ten people are jostling for four at-large seats (eight candidates will advance to the general election). In District 7, which represents Roxbury, Dorchester, Fenway and part of the South End, 11 people are seeking the seat formerly held by Tania Fernandes Anderson, who was sentenced on corruption charges last week. The top two vote getters in district races move on.

Questions about how to cast your ballot and who's running? Check out our voter guide for the preliminary election.

Polls close at 8 p.m. tonight.