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“She’s got as much invested in these City Council races as she does in her own,” said Mary Anne Marsh, a Democratic operative. “The composition of the City Council will determine how much she can get done.” That’s why “she hasn’t really let up since the primary,” Marsh added, describing Wu’s campaign operation as robust. “She’s still doing a ton of events, she’s still got people out there. . . . I think she’s going to drive the turnout.” All mayors seek to install allies in city government, and Wu has been no different. This cycle, she is supporting a slate of council candidates, most of them allies seeking reelection. Of particular interest is the hotly contested race for councilor-at-large, in which eight candidates are seeking four seats. Wu has said she voted for three candidates in the September preliminary: Council President Ruthzee Louijeune, challenger Alexandra Valdez, and Councilor Henry Santana, a first-term Wu ally who is seen as the most vulnerable incumbent. Perhaps his closest challenger: Frank Baker, a former city councilor and vocal Wu critic who is seeking to return to the body in an at-large seat after giving up his Dorchester-based council post two years ago. Wu spent part of the weekend on the trail, appearing with Santana and District 5 Councilor Enrique Pepén at the Roslindale Farmers Market on Saturday and later at a Hyde Park canvassing event with Santana and Louijeune. Wu has praised Santana as an important ally in the legislative body. “He lives and breathes Boston,” Wu said at a fund-raiser for the councilor in October. “He is Boston.” Candidates, meanwhile, tout their ties with Wu as part of their pitch to voters. “Because of my relationship with the mayor, I’ve been able to deliver for the city of Boston,” Santana said in a recent interview with The Boston Globe. “I want to be an effective city councilor, and I believe in Mayor Wu’s vision. It doesn’t mean that we agree on everything, but it means that we are working collaboratively on many things.” Meanwhile, super PACs have also grown very active in the final days leading up to the election. Since late last month, a Wu-aligned PAC, dubbed “Bold Boston,” has transferred $175,000 to another super PAC, which in turn has spent more than $100,000 to support Santana’s campaign. That group, known as “Boston Voice,” put out digital ads that feature a smiling photo of Santana next to Wu. The at-large race has become something of a proxy battle between Wu and a former Boston mayor: Martin J. Walsh, a political rival who held the role for seven years before her. Walsh is backing Baker, and in the final sprint to Election Day, a super PAC with ties to Walsh had spent at least $80,000 on radio, digital ads, and mail in support of the former councilor and incumbent councilor Erin Murphy, another Wu critic. Baker’s pitch is that he would bring an “independent” voice to the council, as one of the few councilors with a history of vocally opposing the mayor. “The City Council should be balanced,” Baker said in an interview. “Unchecked power is not good for anybody.” In the September preliminary election, Baker finished fifth to Santana’s fourth, suggesting Baker might have a shot at knocking off Santana. (The top four finishers on Tuesday will earn seats on the council.) Baker has been the top fund-raiser of any council candidate, pulling in more than $300,000 this year. There is no love lost between Wu and Walsh. However, they do agree on at least one thing this cycle: Both are supporting Valdez, who currently works as the director of the mayor’s office of cultural affairs. A mother and Dominican immigrant, Valdez started working at City Hall about 10 years ago, when Walsh was mayor. “Voters are able to relate to me,” Valdez told the Globe. “I share the same story as many people in the neighborhood and constituents across the city.” Wu has not gotten involved in the only open seat for council, the Roxbury-based District 7 race. But even there, candidates have defined themselves in relation to the mayor, at least in part. At a recent candidate forum, Miniard Culpepper and Said Ahmed both committed to being an “independent” voice for their constituents, when asked how they would approach working with Wu. Ahmed indicated he would be inclined to collaborate with her. “We have to be aligned with our mayor,” Ahmed said. “You got to get partnerships with other elected officials. You cannot be out there trying to fight with the mayor.” Culpepper, for his part, emphasized an issue where he disagrees with the mayor, saying he would fight her administration’s efforts to install a center-running bus lane on Blue Hill Avenue. Another major question hanging over Tuesday’s contest: How many voters will even show up? Given that the mayor’s race is already decided, some political analysts say turnout could be even more dismal than usual. “A lot of the people who would have showed up for the mayoral race, and probably not done a lot of research on the City Council races, are probably not going to show up anymore,” said Justin de Benedictis-Kessner, a professor at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government who studies local politics. It remains to be seen how that dynamic could help, or hurt, Wu’s allies. Secretary of State William F. Galvin said Monday that about 34,000 voters have already cast ballots in Boston, including both in-person early voting and mail-in ballots. With so few competitive races, the Brighton Democrat said that Boston’s turnout is unlikely to exceed 100,000. “You have a mayoral contest that isn’t a contest anymore, and then you have a number of the districts that have no contests, or are very lightly contested, so there’s not a lot of incentive for people to come out,” Galvin told the Globe. “It’s going to be very much determined by the pull-out-the-vote effort of the campaigns.” In the September preliminary election, about 94,000 people cast ballots, a turnout of 22 percent. Even with some hotly contested races, the overall bent of the progressive council is unlikely to shift much. Most incumbents are expected to win reelection. Since she was first elected mayor in 2021, Wu has had success getting her agenda passed by her colleagues on City Hall’s fifth floor. Though it has newfound budgetary powers, the council has largely fallen in line with Wu’s priorities, thanks to both her legal authority and her political sway. “It’s still going to be a strong-mayor government,” said Sam Tyler, the former head of the Boston Municipal Research Bureau. Nearby Somerville will pick new leadership at City Hall after voters rejected sitting Mayor Katjana Ballantyne in the September preliminary election. Jake Wilson, a city councilor who ran the city’s youth soccer league, took the largest share of votes in that round. Willie Burnley Jr., also a city councilor, is a Democratic socialist who, if elected, would be the city’s first Black mayor. Cambridge is weighing new voices on its City Council for the first time since its members this year voted to pass a much-discussed zoning change allowing six-story residential buildings by right in much of the city. The nine-person body — for which 18 candidates are running — will get at least one new member; Councilor Paul Toner, who pleaded not guilty to allegations he paid for sex through a local brothel ring, is not seeking reelection. Spencer Buell of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
