Boston mayoral candidate Domingos DaRosa failed to make it onto the general election ballot after a recount of votes cast in this month’s preliminary election.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu received 66,859 votes (72%) in the Sept. 9 preliminary election, according to the certified results shared by the city’s Elections Department on Monday. Her opponents, Josh Kraft, received 21,481 votes (23.1%), and Domingos DaRosa received 2,428 (2.6%).
Kraft dropped out of the race two days after the election, pledging to donate $3 million and help solve the open-air drug use problems and crime in the Massachusetts Avenue-Melnea Cass Boulevard area.
DaRosa then requested the recount in an attempt to continue his run against Wu in the November general election.
The top two finishers in the preliminary election move on to the general election. However, by law, the third-place finisher must receive at least 3,000 votes to qualify for the ballot.
The recount results leave Mayor Wu without a challenger for the remainder of this election cycle. She will shift her focus to the city council races.
“I’m grateful to each one of the nearly 94,000 Boston voters who showed up for our democracy, and I’m humbled by the overwhelming support across every neighborhood and every ward to keep going in our work to make Boston a home for everyone,” Wu said in a statement from her campaign Monday. “Over the next six weeks, our team will continue to organize alongside the City Council candidates to get out the vote for the Nov. 4th final election.”
DaRosa told MassLive on Monday afternoon that he was disappointed with how the race unfolded, particularly the emphasis the media placed on Wu and Kraft. He and fellow candidate Robert Cappucci were mainly left out of the discussion.
They never gave the public the option of the four candidates,” he said. “As usual, the marginalized individuals like myself are the ones who are left fighting … Money shouldn’t be used to gauge the viability of a candidate. It should be based on their work history, their years of dedication to the city.”
He attributed the low voter turnout — just under 22% of registered voters cast a ballot citywide — to the lack of coverage of the other candidates. He predicted that there would be a similar low interest in November, with only one candidate for mayor.
Wu told reporters at an unrelated event Monday morning that “every election is important,” and November’s would also be a chance for voters to select their city council members.
“My team and I are going to continue to be out there and working hard to drive up turnout and make sure that people know that an election is happening and that it makes a difference for everyone in the city of Boston to be able to participate,” she said.
DaRosa said he was prepared to jump back into city politics for the next mayoral election in 2029.
“We as a city are going to continue to suffer because of the lack of accountability when it comes to having all voices at the table,” he said.
MassLive Politics Editor John Micek contributed reporting for this story.