A buoyant Michelle Wu addresses supporters at Distraction Brewing Co. in Roslindale after securing a spot in the final election for Boston mayor. field_54b3f951675b3

WITH OFFICIAL RESULTS slow to trickle in, City Councilor Michelle Wu told supporters Tuesday night she is confident she’ll finish in one of the two top spots in Boston’s preliminary mayoral election and secure a place on the ballot for the November final election. 

“We are confident we made the top two and are moving on to the final,” Wu said at her election night party at a Roslindale brewery. 

Wu has led the polling throughout the race to replace Marty Walsh, who resigned in March to become labor secretary in President Biden’s cabinet.

Three fellow city councilors — Andrea Campbell, Annissa Essaibi George, and Kim Janey, who became acting mayor when Walsh left — have been tightly bunched in recent polls for second place. The top two finishers in the preliminary election advance to the final election on November 2.

Essaibi George’s campaign was expressing optimism that she would finish second, but she had not made any announcement as of 11 pm. 

The fifth major candidate in the race, former city economic development chief John Barros, has lagged behind in polling. 

State election officials explained that returns were delayed in coming in because of the need to check late votes put in “drop boxes” against voter rolls to make sure there were no duplicate votes. As of 11 pm, Boston election department website had posted no returns.

Story developing.

 

Michael Jonas works with Laura in overseeing CommonWealth Beacon coverage and editing the work of reporters. His own reporting has a particular focus on politics, education, and criminal justice reform.