BOSTON — Boston voters for the first time elected a woman and an Asian American as mayor on Tuesday, tapping City Councilor Michelle Wu to serve in the city’s top political office.
Throughout its long history, Boston had previously only elected white men as mayor.
Wu defeated fellow Boston City Councilor Annissa Essaibi George. The two Democrats faced off against each other after defeating several other mayoral hopefuls in a September preliminary election, including Acting Mayor Kim Janey.
Janey was the first woman and first Black Bostonian to occupy the office. She was elevated to the post on an acting basis when former Mayor Marty Walsh resigned earlier this year to become President Joe Biden’s labor secretary.
The election of Wu, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Taiwan, marks another break from tradition in Boston. Wu grew up in Chicago, only moving to Boston to attend Harvard University and Harvard Law School. Boston typically elects mayors with lifelong Boston roots.
Wu, 36, racked up a series of high-profile endorsements, including support from Janey, U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward Markey, and U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a former Boston city councilor and member of the “Squad” in Congress.
Essaibi George, who was born and raised in the city, taught in the public schools and opened a small business in Boston, won endorsements from a range of labor unions.
The election marks a pivotal moment in the history of Boston, which has wrestled with racial strife throughout its history. Tensions spilled over into violence in the 1970s, when court-ordered desegregation of the city’s public schools led to the busing of Black students to predominantly white schools and white students to mostly Black schools.
Each of the five main mayoral candidates - all Democrats - had identified as a person of color.
Boston has grown more diverse in recent decades. The latest U.S. Census statistics show residents identifying as white make up 44.6% of the population compared to Black residents (19.1%), Latino residents (18.7%) and residents of Asian descent (11.2%).
The transfer of power at Boston City Hall is scheduled for Nov. 16.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.