1987 Boston City Council election

Boston City Council elections were held on November 3, 1987. Eleven seats (seven district representatives and four at-large members) were contested in the general election, as the incumbents in districts 3 and 6 were unopposed. Seven seats (the four at-large members, and districts 1, 8, and 9) had also been contested in the preliminary election held on September 22, 1987.

At-large

Councillors Dapper O'Neil, Christopher A. Iannella, and Michael J. McCormack were re-elected. Councillor Joseph M. Tierney did not seek re-election, as he ran for Mayor of Boston; he was defeated by incumbent Raymond Flynn in the general election. Rosaria Salerno won the final at-large seat.

Candidates[1]	Preliminary Election[2][3]		General Election[4]
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Dapper O'Neil	29,052	16.3%	47,817	17.0%
Christopher A. Iannella	23,906	13.4%	45,472	16.1%
Rosaria Salerno	19,346	10.8%	39,089	13.9%
Michael J. McCormack	16,793	9.4%	36,326	12.9%
Joseph W. Casper	15,694	8.8%	32,548	11.5%
Frederick C. Langone	19,521	10.9%	30,447	10.8%
Michael W. Kane	13,678	7.7%	27,573	9.8%
Stephen J. Murphy	13,309	7.4%	22,744	8.1%
Kevin A. McCluskey	11,431	6.4%
Althea Garrison	6669	3.7%
Edward T. Kelley	5123	2.9%
David J. McKay	4198	2.3%

District 1

Councillor Robert Travaglini was re-elected.

Candidates[1]	Preliminary Election[5][6]		General Election[4]
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Robert Travaglini	5680	54.5%	7977	61.6%
Maria DiLibero	3115	29.9%	4976	38.4%
Anthony Picarello	1629	15.6%

District 2

Councillor James M. Kelly was re-elected.

Candidates[1]	General Election[4]
	Votes	%
James M. Kelly	10,413	86.7%
Ali J. Fiumedoro	1602	13.3%

District 3

Councillor James E. Byrne ran unopposed and was re-elected.

District 4

Councillor Charles Yancey was re-elected.

Candidates[1]	General Election[4]
	Votes	%
Charles Yancey	4828	80.1%
Arthur Williams	1196	19.9%

District 5

Councillor Thomas Menino was re-elected.

Candidates[1]	General Election[4]
	Votes	%
Thomas Menino	10,437	87.0%
Gerald Bagley	1556	13.0%

District 6

Councillor Maura Hennigan ran unopposed and was re-elected.

District 7

Councillor Bruce Bolling was re-elected.

Candidates[1]	General Election[4]
	Votes	%
Bruce Bolling	4264	70.3%
Roy A. Owens	1803	29.7%

District 8

Councillor David Scondras was re-elected.

Candidates[1]	Preliminary Election[5]		General Election[4]
	Votes	%	Votes	%
David Scondras	2158	69.9%	3386	63.6%
Glenn Fiscus	537	17.4%	1942	36.4%
Jack E. Molesworth	393	12.7%

District 9

Councillor Brian J. McLaughlin was re-elected, with his narrow victory confirmed by a recount.

Candidates[1]	Preliminary Election[5]		General Election[4]		Recount[7]
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
Brian J. McLaughlin	2090	36.0%	4627	50.7%	4722	50.8%
Richard M. Izzo	2097	36.1%	4506	49.3%	4575	49.2%
Paul F. Creighton	1265	21.8%
Brian J. Rielly	255	4.4%
Aramis Camps	102	1.8%

See also

• List of members of the Boston City Council
• 1987 Boston mayoral election

References

1. "WHAT TO LOOK FOR AT POLLS TODAY". The Boston Globe. September 22, 1987. Retrieved February 23, 2018 – via pqarchiver.com.
2. "ELECTION '87 SALERNO, INCUMBENTS WIN AT-LARGE COUNCIL SLOTS". The Boston Globe. September 23, 1987. Retrieved February 23, 2018 – via pqarchiver.com.
3. "THE BOSTON VOTE". The Boston Globe. September 23, 1987. Retrieved February 23, 2018 – via pqarchiver.com.
4. "THE BOSTON VOTE". The Boston Globe. November 4, 1987. Retrieved February 23, 2018 – via pqarchiver.com.
5. "ELECTION '87 MCLAUGHLIN LOSES IN ALLSTON-BRIGHTON CITY COUNCIL RACE". The Boston Globe. September 23, 1987. Retrieved February 23, 2018 – via pqarchiver.com.
6. "Charlestown Records a 36% Voter Turnout In Tuesday's Primary Election" (PDF). Charlestown Patriot and Somerville Chronicle. Vol. 30, no. 4. September 24, 1987. p. 5. Retrieved February 23, 2018 – via docdroid.net.
7. "RECOUNT CONFIRMS MCLAUGHLIN VICTORY". The Boston Globe. November 21, 1987. Retrieved February 27, 2018 – via pqarchiver.com.

Further reading

• "BOSTON'S ELECTIONS". The Boston Globe. October 27, 1987. Retrieved February 23, 2018 – via pqarchiver.com.
• "Charlestown Patriot and Somerville Chronicle" (PDF). Vol. 30, no. 9. October 28, 1987. Retrieved February 23, 2018 – via docdroid.net.
• "Charlestown Patriot and Somerville Chronicle" (PDF). Vol. 30, no. 4. September 24, 1987. Retrieved February 23, 2018 – via docdroid.net.
• "Charlestown Patriot and Somerville Chronicle" (PDF). Vol. 30, no. 3. September 17, 1987. Retrieved February 23, 2018 – via docdroid.net.