Boston holds its biennial preliminary election on Tuesday, Sept. 9, at a time the independence of cities to police their streets and the due process rights of everyone in the country are under threat from the current administration in Washington, which appears to think a president’s powers know no bounds Donald Trump must respect.

Voters of color need to turn out in higher than usual numbers to select candidates who will stand up for the city government’s authority to determine how police officers are deployed and stand for the rights of immigrants, who make up almost a third of Boston residents, to contest any challenges to their status.

In recent times, voter turnout has been low in off-year elections like this one when no state and congressional contests are on the ballot.

Four years ago, a dismal 20% of registered voters cast ballots in Boston. That percentage needs to go way up to show the Trump administration that the city’s voters are paying attention and engaged in the issues of the day.

On the preliminary ballot are races for mayor, at-large city councilors and district councilors. The number of candidates will be whittled to two for mayor, eight for at-large seats and two for district seats, unless an incumbent is unchallenged. The finalists will face off in the general election on Nov. 4.

Four candidates are running for the city’s top office: incumbent Michelle Wu, Joshua Kraft, Bob Cappucci and Domingos DaRosa.

Wu is seeking a second term after riding a progressive coalition into office four years ago. Kraft, son of the New England Patriots’ owner and a first-time candidate, has targeted his well-financed campaign at the incumbent.

Cappucci, a former elected member of the Boston School Committee, bills himself as “the law and order candidate.” DaRosa, a Cape Verdean immigrant who lives in Hyde Park, has run unsuccessfully for an at-large seat on the council three times.

For at-large seats on the council, 10 candidates are running. The four incumbents are seeking reelection. Ruthzee Louijeune, the daughter of Haitian immigrants who is council’s current president, is running for a third term. Julia Mejia, an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, is seeking a fourth.

Henry Santana, also a Dominican immigrant, is up for a second term. Erin Murphy from Dorchester, a frequent critic of Wu, was first elected in 2021.

Six are challenging the incumbents.

Frank Baker was a leader of a conservative faction as a six-term councilor from District 3 in Dorchester. The other challengers are Alexandra Valdez, director of the city’s Office of Cultural Affairs; Marvin Mathalier, co-owner of Café Ula in Jamaica Plain; Will Onuoha, executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Fair Housing and Equity; Yves Mary Jean, a poet and novelist of Haitian descent; and Rachel Nicole Miselman, a self-proclaimed Republican in the nonpartisan race.

A crowded field of 11 is seeking the vacant District 7 seat representing Roxbury, Dorchester, Fenway and the South End. Tania Fernandes Anderson resigned after pleading guilty to federal kickback charges.

The candidates include Rev. Miniard Culpepper, pastor of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Dorchester and a former regional Housing and Urban Development official; Said Abdikarim, director of policy advocacy and civic engagement for African Community Development of New England; Said Ahmed, executive director of United Somali Youth; Mavrick Afonso, external affairs director at the state Executive Office of Housing; Tchad Cort, a transportation specialist with Boston Public Schools; and Rev. Roy Owens, a perennial candidate.

The others are Natalie Juba-Sutherland, a client service associate with Bank of America; Wawa Bell, cofounder of the Nubian Square Foundation; Samuel Hurtado, a business manager in Wu’s Economic Opportunity and Inclusion Cabinet; Shawn Dwayne Nelson; a leader of anti-vaccine protests; and Jerome King, community coordinator with Greater Four Corners Action Coalition.

In the District 5 race covering Hyde Park, Roslindale and Mattapan, incumbent Enrique Pepén is running for re-election against two challengers, Sharon Hinton, a retired educator, and and Winston Pierre, a son of Haitian immigrants and a city planner.

In all races on the preliminary ballot, voters can vote early at Boston City Hall through Friday, Sept. 5. Anyone who has obtained an absentee ballot can return it at one of 22 drop boxes around the city or the Elections Department at City Hall by 8 pm on Sept. 9. On preliminary election day, votes can be cast in person at neighborhood polling places from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Every vote counts. In a low turnout election, a vote has even more weight in determining the outcome. For instance, Mejia, first won an at-large seat on the council by a single vote in 2019.

Voting this year holds the additional potential to show the Trump administration that the people of Boston are politically active and ready to fend off his incursions into municipal powers and his disregard for individual rights. Turnout matters. Vote as your right, your duty and your statement of resistance to a president out to dismantle and destroy our country’s democracy.

Ronald Mitchell
Editor and Publisher, Bay State Banner