4 mayoral upsets, and a City Council shift

Also: Rhode Island's historic election; family shelter system nears capacity [Donate ❤️]( [View in Browser](  November 8, 2023 ☀️ Sunny, with a high near 46. Good Morning Boston, It may be an off-year, but last night's elections were pretty eventful. Republicans scored a small victory in the Massachusetts Senate, progressives picked up a seat on Boston's City Council and four sitting mayors got knocked out of office. Meanwhile, Rhode Island elected the state's first Black congressman, while Republicans flipped New Hampshire's largest city. Take a deep breath. OK, ready? Let's dive in: - The Boston City Council will have four new members — and a few more allies of Mayor Michelle Wu — in the chamber next year. While all nine incumbents running for reelection won another two-year term, three of the four open seats were taken by Wu-endorsed candidates. WBUR's Walt Wuthmann has [all the results here,]( but let's review the incoming councilors who won last night: - The council's four at-large seats were won by incumbent councilors Ruthzee Louijeune, Erin Murphy and Julia Mejia, plus newcomer Henry Santana, who bested fifth-place finisher Bridget Nee-Walsh by 3% of the overall votes. - In the District 6 race, Wu-backed Jamaica Plain labor attorney Ben Weber beat out West Roxbury nonprofit IT director William King with over 60% of the votes. - In District 5, Wu's former director of neighborhood services, Enrique Pepen, won a close-ish race against former police officer Jose Ruiz, 52% to 47%. - Moderates did hold onto one seat in the District 3 race to succeed [outgoing Councilor Frank Baker](. John FitzGerald, a former BPDA and City Hall official, won 59% of the vote, beating Joel Richards for the Dorchester-based seat. - There's a new mayor in town: Voters showed the door to four sitting mayors across Massachusetts last night. In perhaps the night's most unexpected result, Braintree Mayor Charles Kokoros [was upset]( by former planning board member Erin Joyce in a race that saw the two candidates [spar over the city's approach to development](. Woburn City Council President Mike Concannon also [ousted six-term incumbent Mayor Scott Galvin]( in the wake of [last winter's teacher's strike](. In Fitchburg, City Councilor Samantha Squailia [edged out four-term Mayor Stephen DiNatale with nearly 60% of the vote]( in a race that [often centered]( on potholes and paving roads. And in Greenfield, Virginia “Ginny” DeSorgher [defeated]( Mayor Roxann Wedegartner after [battling over police and school funding](. - Voters in Agawam, Haverhill, Marlborough, Melrose and Pittsfield also elected new people to replace their departing mayors, while Revere voters gave acting Mayor Patrick Keefe a full term. Elsewhere, incumbents held on for another day, including in Worcester and Springfield. Read [our updating list of results for all the mayoral races here](. - Special edition: While off-year elections in New England are typically limited to municipal offices, the region had two special elections to replace state and federal lawmakers who left office early: - In Massachusetts, the GOP added to their handful of state Senate seats. Republican Rep. Peter Durant, of Spencer, [beat fellow Rep. Jon Zlotnik]( a Gardner Democrat, in the special election for former state Sen. Anne Gobi's north-central Massachusetts seat. Democrats still hold a 36-4 supermajority in the Senate. - In Rhode Island, voters in the 1st Congressional District elected the state's first person of color to Congress. Gabe Amo, a former White House official and the son of African immigrants, will [serve out the rest of former Rep. David Cicilline's term](. - Elsewhere in New England: Don't worry, we didn't forget about the rest of you. Here's some of the notable results from our neighbors: - Maine voters [rejected a ballot question]( that proposed a historic public takeover of the state's electric utilities. - New Hampshire's biggest city, Manchester, [elected Republican Jay Ruais]( to replace outgoing Democratic Mayor Joyce Craig, who's running for governor. - In Connecticut, Hartford [elected a political newcomer as mayor, while things are still a bit of a mess]( in Bridgeport. P.S.— New England was hardly the only place holding elections last night. NPR [has a summary of the national results here]( including a closely watched abortion rights ballot question in Ohio, Democratic gains in Virginia and a couple governorships up for reelection. Nik DeCosta-Klipa Editor, Newsletters [Follow](  Support the news  The Rundown [Where the Republican presidential candidates stand on climate change]( As Republicans seek their party's nomination in the 2024 presidential election, their stances on key issues will be top of mind for voters. Climate change is particularly important to younger voters. [Read more.]( [Where the Republican presidential candidates stand on climate change]( As Republicans seek their party's nomination in the 2024 presidential election, their stances on key issues will be top of mind for voters. Climate change is particularly important to younger voters. [Read more.]( [As family shelter system nears capacity, Mass. deploys more National Guard members]( The Healey administration said it expects to start implementing a waitlist in the state-funded family shelter system on Wednesday or Thursday. It is taking steps to create short-term overnight accommodations for waitlisted families. [Read more.]( [As family shelter system nears capacity, Mass. deploys more National Guard members]( The Healey administration said it expects to start implementing a waitlist in the state-funded family shelter system on Wednesday or Thursday. It is taking steps to create short-term overnight accommodations for waitlisted families. [Read more.]( [BU audit finds no issue with management of grant funds at Center for Antiracist Research]( The finding comes six weeks after Ibram X. Kendi, the Center’s director, came under heavy scrutiny for his leadership of the organization following sudden layoffs. [Read more.]( [BU audit finds no issue with management of grant funds at Center for Antiracist Research]( The finding comes six weeks after Ibram X. Kendi, the Center’s director, came under heavy scrutiny for his leadership of the organization following sudden layoffs. [Read more.]( [Plymouth family crosses into Egypt after month stuck in Gaza amid deadly conflict]( Hazem Shafai, Sanaa Shafai, and their three young children expect to spend a few days at a hotel near the international airport in Cairo in order to get medical treatment before returning to the U.S. [Read more.]( [Plymouth family crosses into Egypt after month stuck in Gaza amid deadly conflict]( Hazem Shafai, Sanaa Shafai, and their three young children expect to spend a few days at a hotel near the international airport in Cairo in order to get medical treatment before returning to the U.S. [Read more.]( [A pod of orcas have sunk a yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar]( The pod rammed the boat's rudder for about 45 minutes. Authorities were able to get crew members to land safely, but their yacht was irreparably damaged. [Read more.]( [A pod of orcas have sunk a yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar]( The pod rammed the boat's rudder for about 45 minutes. Authorities were able to get crew members to land safely, but their yacht was irreparably damaged. [Read more.]( Anything Else? - Boston has released a groundbreaking database of over 2,300 people who were once enslaved in the city. The database's curator, Kyera Singleton, explains what they hope to achieve with the project in [this interview with WBUR Morning Edition host Rupa Shenoy](. - A zoo in the Chicago-area has documented [a rare case of parthenogenesis]( — in which a Mommy Shark gave birth to a Baby Shark with no help from any Daddy Shark (do do, do do do do). It's only the second observed case of asexual reproduction among epaulette sharks. - The other case was at The New England Aquarium in Boston — where the Chicago zoo got its female epaulette sharks. - WBUR film critic Sean Burns caught an advance screening of “Once Within a Time" last week at the Coolidge Corner Theatre. (The film was produced with a little help from Oscar-winning director Steven Soderbergh.) As Burns [writes in his review]( the brain-bending experiment is the "damnedest thing you’ll see this year – or maybe any year." - Gloucester journalist Naomi Schalit lost her mother when she was just 18, leaving her with lots of big unanswered questions. But she asks [in this Cognoscenti commentary]( “Do we ever really know our parents?”  What We're Reading 📚 - These ‘poofy’ caterpillars can predict winter’s severity, according to New England folklore ([The Boston Globe]( - SJC justices raise concerns about Tufts tenure tinkering ([CommonWealth Beacon]( - Inside the Bunker with Michelle Wu ([Boston Magazine](  Food For Thought [Hunters donate venison to address food insecurity in Mass.]( Since deer season began about a month ago, hunters across the state have donated more than 750 pounds of venison to residents facing food insecurity. The donations make up over 3,000 meals and more than double the impact that MassWildlife's Hunters Share the Harvest Program had last year when it launched as a pilot program. [Read more.]( [Hunters donate venison to address food insecurity in Mass.]( Since deer season began about a month ago, hunters across the state have donated more than 750 pounds of venison to residents facing food insecurity. The donations make up over 3,000 meals and more than double the impact that MassWildlife's Hunters Share the Harvest Program had last year when it launched as a pilot program. [Read more.]( Listen: The Common discusses [the relationship between Harvard and its donors]( and the influence they yield over the school. Play: [WBUR's daily mini crossword.]( Can you keep your streak going? Before you go: [Move over, Dunkin' tree ornaments.]( 😎 Forward to a friend. 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