No big shake up, as incumbents sweep Boston City Council at-large race

Boston City Council's four at-large incumbents cruised to victory, besting a host of challengers that included former Dorchester district representative Frank Baker.

Council President Ruthzee Louijeune once again topped the tally, garnering the most votes of any candidate, according to the city's unofficial election results as of Wednesday. Rejoining her on the council are Erin Murphy, Julia Mejia and Henry Santana.

Baker, who left the council two years ago to focus on his health, positioned himself as a "lunch-bucket Democrat" who would provide a more conservative outlook than the more progressive voices on the board.

But his comeback was never a sure thing. He placed a distant fifth in the preliminary, nearly 4,500 votes behind Santana, according to results published by the city. In the general, Santana garnered over 15,000 more votes than Baker, according to the unofficial tally.

For his part, Santana worked hard on the campaign trail, touting vocal support from Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, who crushed her preliminary election opponents in September.

The three other challengers weren't so lucky Tuesday night, either. Alexandra Valdez (who also garnered a Wu endorsement), Will Onuoha and Marvin Mathelier all finished far behind the winning quartet.

Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated the neighborhood Frank Baker represented as a district city councilor. He represented District 3, which is predominantly in Dorchester. The post has been updated. We regret the error.