By Mackenzie Farkus
Staff Writer
This November, Bostonians will be voting on whether or not Mayor Martin J. Walsh will keep his position as Mayor of Boston. Although the city of Boston has not seen a mayoral incumbent lose since J.M. Curley in 1949, competitors are already announcing their mayoral campaigns.
Tito Jackson, the District 7 Boston City Councillor since 2011, is running against Walsh for the mayoral seat. Although Jackson does not have the monetary assets that an incumbent such as Walsh has, he has already reached out to the manager of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s campaign for consultation.
Some of the key points of Jackson’s campaign platform include affordable housing, safer neighborhoods, sustainability, increased Boston Public Schools budgets, and the implementation of opioid detox services, as listed on his website.
Jackson is also notable for his deep ties to communities of color in the Boston area and his work as the Chair of the Boston City Council’s Committee on Education, the
Chair of the Special Committee on the Status of Black and Latino Men and Boys, and the Vice Chair of the Committee on Healthy Women, Families, and Communities.
Mary Franklin, an ordained minister from Roslindale, is also challenging Walsh’s incumbent status. According to her website, Franklin’s main priorities are “public safety, schools, job training, and disabilities.” Franklin is the founder of the Women Survivors of Homicide Movement and the Melvin’s Mission Day Program, where she advocates for women whose lives have been impacted by homicide.
Don’t be surprised if more challengers appear later on this month. In a Politico article by Lauren Dezenski, Tom Whalen, a political science professor at Boston University, suggests that Boston City Council President Michelle Wu might be considering a run for mayor as well.
However many mayoral campaigns end up running in this election, don’t forget to register to vote online, by mail or at your local DMV if you haven’t already. November may seem like a long time away, but it’s never too early to register to vote.
