Politics

Several candidates have now entered the race for the 9th Suffolk District House seat, following the resignation of Jon Santiago on March 1 after he was tapped by Gov. Maura Healey to be the Veterans’ Affairs secretary.

The Boston City Council on March 8 passed Mayor Michelle Wu’s rent stabilization proposal 11-2, with District 3 Councilor Frank  Baker and at-large Councilor Erin Murphy voting “no.”

Boston City Councilors are drawing lines in the sand over a raft of measures put forward by Boston Mayor Michelle Wu in a home rule petition on rent stabilization.

Mayor Michelle Wu announced plans to create a new planning department that would be separate from the Boston Planning and Development Agency, streamline the city’s development processes and use the bulk of the city’s share of federal recovery funds to accelerate the production of affordable housing as part of a set of ambitious goals outlined in her Jan. 25 State of the City address.

Boston schoolteacher Joel Richards kicked off his campaign for the District 3 City Council seat Friday, promising to fight to make Boston a city where all of its residents can thrive.

During an Oct. 27 City Council hearing on violence in the Boston Public Schools, Councilors Michael Flaherty, Erin Murphy and Ed Flynn questioned BPS officials on increased reports of violence in the schools.

For Democrats across the country, Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock’s victory in a runoff election versus Republican Herschel Walker represented a hard-fought victory for the party, one that helped secure a solid 51-vote majority in the Senate. For Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Warnock’s victory means she will continue to work with a key ally in the Senate.

Boston schoolteacher Joel Richards announced Monday he will challenge District 3 City Councilor Frank Baker in next year’s municipal election, telling the Banner he wants to address issues including public education, the high cost of housing and public transportation in the city.

When Hakeem Jeffries stepped to the rostrum of the U.S. Congress to nominate Nancy Pelosi as speaker in 2019, he shook the chamber with a rousing speech capped off by a startling reference to rap lyrics from Naughty by Nature.

Boston City councilors passed a resolution last week calling on the administration of Mayor Michelle Wu to increase the percentage of affordable housing required in new housing developments to 20% from the current 13% and to lower the building-size threshold at which the policy takes effect from nine units to five units.