This election is all about the next election for Michelle Wu

City Councilor Michelle Wu faces what could be an early test of her viability as a mayoral candidate in Tuesday’s city election, a wide open affair in which Wu should emerge as the top vote-getter.

Wu is among eight at-large candidates gunning for four seats but the only suspense is how big a win she scores, and that could help determine whether she challenges Mayor Martin Walsh in two years.

In an interview, Wu declined to answer questions about a possible mayoral run and said she is solely focused on winning a “mandate” to continue fighting for the issues she’s been advocating.

“The way that I look at elections is that it’s not about one person winning a sit for herself or himself,” she said.

Wu and others will be keeping a close eye on not just the City Council at-large race but also the district races. The outcome will determine whether women and candidates of color will emerge as a majority on the City Council for the first time.

“We are on the verge of making history,” Wu said.

She predicted turnout will be higher than expected, partly because voters are focused on national issues like climate change and how it affects the city.

Aside from Wu’s future, other questions will be answered by voters on Tuesday, including:

• Will the Trump presidency spur more voters to show up.

Nonmayoral municipal elections can be a snoozer. Turnout in the last nonmayoral election year, in 2015, was just a dismal 14%, but there are signs that Democratic voters fed up with Trump will be more motivated this time around.

• Can a Republican win a Boston city election?

Former state GOP Party chairwoman Jennifer Nassour is making a bid for the District 8 City Council spot in the Back-Bay Beacon Hill neighborhoods. Nassour is running against another nonincumbent, Kenzie Bok, who should be the favorite given the fact that Boston is heavily Democrat. But Nassour is well-known and running a campaign based on neighborhood issues like trash collection.

• Will a newcomer topple an incumbent?

In the past the answer would be no. But those days are gone and incumbency is no longer a guarantee of victory.

Just ask former Congressman Michael Capuano. U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley’s victory gave challengers new hope, and this time around there are four in the at-large race — David Halbert, Julia Mejia, Erin Murphy and Alejandra Nicole St. Guillen — hoping for an upset.

The incumbent most likely to be ousted is Althea Garrison, who finished in fifth place in 2017 and got on the council only because Pressley left to move on to Congress. But in the new age of upsets even incumbent at-large Councilor Michael Flaherty could be vulnerable.

 

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/2WGa04m