Live Boston Election Results: Marty Walsh Is The Next Mayor

Follow along as we see follow results in the mayor's race, the City Council races, and the East Boston casino vote.
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AP Photo

AP Photo

Welcome to election night in Boston! where we find out whether Marty Walsh or John Connolly will succeed Tom Menino as Boston’s next mayor. Voters will also select a new city council, and in East Boston, they’ll decide the fate of a proposed casino at Suffolk Downs.

Over in East Boston, voters will decide whether to approve a proposed casino at Suffolk Downs weeks after Suffolk Downs dropped partner Caesars Entertainment from the project. To get a fuller sense of what’s at stake here for a host of interested parties, from Eastie residents to casino mogul Steve Wynn, check out Jason Schwartz’s long read in the November issue. 

We’ll be updating this post throughout the evening, with the most recent updates toward the top. So check in often.

10:43 p.m.: After reportedly taking a congratulations call from President Obama, Marty Walsh took the stage to some predictable accompaniment: “Shipping Up to Boston,” played live by Walsh supporters The Dropkick Murphys. In his victory speech, “opportunity” was the buzzword.

“This is Boston Strong. And together we’re going to make Boston even stronger,” he told an elated crowd. “My mission as mayor is to make Boston the hub of opportunity.”

“Mayor Menino’s legacy is a world class city,” he said, wishing the Mayor and his wife the best in the years ahead.

By the way, with 100 percent of precincts reporting, the city’s unofficial election results page shows Marty Walsh defeating John Connolly by 51.55 percent to 48.06 percent with a margin of roughly 5,000 votes.

Your four at-large city councilors, in order of their vote share, are Ayanna Pressley, Michelle Wu, Michael Flaherty, and Stephen Murphy. No huge surprises in that list based on the preliminary election results.

And the Suffolk Downs casino lost by a healthy margin of 56 no votes to 44 yes votes. For more results, visit their page.

walsh

10:01 p.m.: Marty Walsh is reportedly waiting until 11 p.m.  to make his victory speech. In related news, the 11 o’clock news starts at 11 p.m. Scratch that!

9:38 p.m.: John Connolly has taken the stage to concede. “Marty Walsh is a good man. He wants to do good things for Boston. And he will do good things for Boston,” he told supporters.

9:24 p.m.: It appears Mayor Menino has already called his successor to congratulate him.

9:20 p.m.: John Connolly has confirmed to the Boston Globe what journalists from a few outlets had been reporting already: Marty Walsh is your next mayor of Boston. According to the Boston Globe, Connolly conceded the election with the current tally showing him losing 48.27 percent to 51.37 percent (with 66 percent of precincts reporting.)

9:09 p.m.: In nearby election news, the Eagle Tribune is reporting that beleaguered Lawrence Mayor William Lantigua has been defeated by challenger Daniel Rivera. (Update: Lantigua has not conceded and the margin looks quite thin. That’ll have to be resolved later.) To see why a lot of columnists and media personalities are openly cheering on Twitter, check out this piece from the Boston archives.

9:00 p.m.: As a little aside, Bill de Blasio won a very easy race in the New York City mayor’s race, which means that whoever wins in Boston tonight, both cities will be led by a Red Sox fan.8:46 p.m.: An early disappointment for outgoing Mayor Menino: the Suffolk Downs casino lost among Eastie voters. But one man’s loss is another man’s gain, and Steve Wynn’s plans to win the bid for a casino in Everett are looking a lot better without the Suffolk Downs site in the running.

Meanwhile, the television selection at the struggling Suffolk Downs itself is … appropriate?

8:03 p.m.: If you were in line before 8 p.m. you can still vote, but if not, sorry, Charlie! Polls are closed. Time to count. The city’s election results website is here and, for now, it is running smoothly (though showing no results.)


7:57 p.m.: Polls are about to close, and you’re probably wondering: Who’s got the edge? Our resident expert has a prediction:

Thanks, David.

6:51 p.m.: The city released turnout numbers as of 6 p.m., and we’re at 30.55%, or just over 113,000 voters, which is just about the number that came out to vote in September’s preliminary election. The difference: we’ve still got two hours of votes to tally. At this time in that election, turnout stood at 23.44 percent. Again, the high turnout seems like good news for Connolly if the conventional wisdom is to be believed.

6:47 p.m.: There’s no guarantee that the guy we elect tonight will remain in place for 20 years, but to get a sense of what might be at stake, it’s fun to revisit the Boston Globe’s front page the morning after Mayor Menino won his first mayoral election, shared by the Globe’s own Cynthia Needham.

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