By Julia Taliesin
Staff Writer
On Sept. 26, a preliminary vote decided that Boston voters will head to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 7, to choose between current Mayor Martin J. Walsh and City Councillor Tito Jackson for mayor.
Voter turnout for the preliminaries was dismally low, with only about 14 percent of Boston voters casting a vote, according to “The Boston Globe.”
Out of the four mayoral candidates on the ballot, incumbent candidate Walsh captured 63 percent of the votes and City Councilor Jackson captured 29 percent.
The other two candidates — Robert Cappucci, a former Boston police officer and a one-time Boston School Committee member, and Joseph A. Wiley, a former customer service representative for Mass Health — got 7 percent and 1 percent respectively.
Jackson and Walsh worked together on Walsh’s first campaign for mayor, as well as for former Governor Deval Patrick’s campaign.
Both candidates have a demonstrated commitment to focusing on issues such as affordable housing, homelessness, and safe communities.
Jackson and Walsh debated on Tuesday, Oct. 10 at 10:30 a.m. on WBZ News Radio, and will debate next on Tuesday, Oct. 24 on WGBH TV and Radio.
They are also anticipating other opportunities to debate their “vision for Boston,” according to “The Boston Globe.”
Jackson is the first black man to make it to the final stages of the Boston mayoral race, and if elected would be the first black mayor of Boston.
He was elected as the District 7 Boston City Councilor in 2011, representing Roxbury as well as parts of the South End, Dorchester, and Fenway areas.
Jackson serves on the committees for Education, the Status of Black and Latino Men and Boys, and Healthy Women, Families, and Communities.
From a family of community activists, Jackson is focusing, among other things, on the effects of gentrification on some Boston neighborhoods.
“I want people to be able to still live in this neighborhood, not get pushed out of the community that they built up and made safe,” Jackson said about Roxbury in an interview with WBUR.
Walsh, running for a second term, told voters, “Judge me on my record, and . . . [the] good things we’ve done.”
Jackson, a former political supporter of Walsh, said that while he believes Walsh has done a good job, it is time for a change.
Communities of color widely supported Walsh in his last campaign, and Walsh continues to stress that he’s “trying to make sure that the base that elected me as mayor stays with me. . . .I’m working to keep that base.”
Media outlets anticipate that Jackson will have to work hard to mobilize voters in the coming weeks if he is going to triumph over Walsh.
Tune in to the debate on Oct. 24 to hear Jackson and Walsh discuss current issues facing the people of Boston, and make sure to vote in the Boston mayoral election on Nov. 7.
