boston politics

Though local elections are a year away, progressive candidates for city council are gearing up for 2021. Alex Gray, who served as an aide to former Gov. Deval Patrick, is planning to run for an at-large council seat. Another ex-Patrick staffer, David Halbert, is considering a second run for an at-large seat.

District 4 City Councilor Andrea Campbell announced her campaign for mayor last Thursday. She will run against at-large Councilor Michelle Wu, who announced her campaign on Sept.15, and Mayor Martin Walsh, if he announces a campaign.

Wu, who has championed making the MBTA free, called for the elimination of the city’s Boston Planning and Development Agency and voted against the mayor’s 2021 budget while calling for cuts to Boston Police Department funding will most likely be running to the left of Walsh — following in the footsteps of U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, a former at-large councilor who took out incumbent Congressman Michael Capuano.

Last year, Damali Vidot was the top vote-getter in the Chelsea at-large City Council race. This year, she’s set her sights on the State House, taking on three-term incumbent Dan Ryan in the race for the 2nd Suffolk District.

The Boston City Council held a hearing Thursday to discuss a ballot question that could change the city’s charter.

In the midst of a global pandemic, the primary battle between U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy and Sen. Edward Markey bears few of the hallmarks of an ordinary campaign. Among the more extraordinary developments: Voters are already casting their ballots, four weeks before the September 1 primary date.

With just days to go before mail-in ballots begin arriving in voters’ mail slots, U.S. Senator Ed Markey and U.S. Rep. Joseph Kennedy III crisscrossed the city appealing for votes Sunday.

City Councilor Lydia Edwards and Council President Kim Janey drafted a home rule petition that would give Boston the power to receive about 2% from real estate selling for $2 million or more, but it has sat in the Massachusetts House Committee on Ways and Means since December 2019.

Nationwide demands to defund local police departments have reached Boston. On June 10, the Boston City Council will decide whether or not to approve the $414 million allocated to Boston Police Department (BPD) for the upcoming fiscal year.

Black elected officials’ long-sought efforts to reform police practices are getting a new hearing after more than a week of demonstrations across the nation over the police killing of Minneapolis resident George Floyd.

Mayor Martin Walsh joined Police Commissioner William G. Gross and District Attorney Rachael Rollins Monday to acknowledge the largely peaceful protests and warn against violence.

Boston and Massachusetts may have leaned centrist, but three of Boston’s ward committees veered left, with activists running under a “fresh slate” banner sweeping Wards 1 and 18.