1993 Boston City Council election

Boston City Council elections were held on November 2, 1993. All thirteen seats (nine district representatives and four at-large members) were contested in the general election, while ten seats (six districts and the four at-large members) had also been contested in the preliminary election held on September 21, 1993.

The large number of preliminary candidates followed a reduction in the number of signatures required for a candidate to appear on the ballot, from 1500 to 500.^[1]

Since the composition of the council changed in 1984, to four at-large seats and nine district representatives, no candidate who had run for re-election had lost.^[1] However, two incumbents—Anthony Crayton and David Scondras—were defeated by challengers in this election.

At-large

Councillors John A. Nucci and Dapper O'Neil were re-elected. Councillors Bruce Bolling and Rosaria Salerno did not seek re-election, as they were running for Mayor of Boston; their seats were won by Richard P. Iannella and Peggy Davis-Mullen. Iannella was the son of former Council president Christopher A. Iannella,^[1] while unsuccessful candidate Michael Travaglini was the brother of outgoing District 1 Councillor Robert Travaglini.^[2]

Candidates[3]	Preliminary Election[1]		General Election[4]
	Votes	%	Votes	%
John A. Nucci	42,970	14.4%	53,531	16.7%
Dapper O'Neil	42,069	14.1%	52,900	16.5%
Richard P. Iannella	34,065	11.4%	52,542	16.4%
Peggy Davis-Mullen	29,389	9.9%	40,340	12.6%
Stephen J. Murphy	20,472	6.9%	31,294	9.7%
Michael Travaglini	19,976	6.7%	31,014	9.7%
Francis Costello	21,131	7.1%	30,367	9.5%
Eddie Jenkins Jr.	16,249	5.5%	28,986	9.0%
Brian P. Wallace	12,231	4.1%
Karen MacNutt	11,885	4.0%
Jose Vincenty	10,606	3.6%
Joseph Delgardo	6,886	2.3%
Karen Ray	6,654	2.2%
Gary Dotterman	5,404	1.8%
Frank G. Williams	5,376	1.8%
Daniel J. Carey	5,339	1.8%
Edward T. Wheeler	4,019	1.3%
Martin A. Coughlin	3,308	1.3%

District 1

Councillor Robert Travaglini, who had been elected to the Massachusetts Senate in November 1992, did not seek re-election to the City Council;^[2] his seat was won by Diane J. Modica.

Candidates[5]	Preliminary Election[6][7]		General Election[8]
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Diane J. Modica	4010†	28.4%	8008	54.6%
James Costello	2814†	19.9%	6663	45.4%
Robert Cappucci	2662†	18.8%
Domenic A. Piso	2310	16.3%
Maria DiLibero	1822	12.9%
Tom Pizzi	300	2.1%
Richard Rosa	218	1.5%

† per preliminary election recount

District 2

Councillor James M. Kelly was re-elected.

Candidates[5]	General Election[9]
	Votes	%
James M. Kelly	12,344	85.8%
Ali J. Fiumedoro	2050	14.2%

District 3

Councillor James E. Byrne did not seek re-election; his seat was won by Maureen Feeney, his neighborhood liaison.^[6]

Candidates[5]	Preliminary Election[6]		General Election[10]
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Maureen Feeney	6673	49.4%	9769	70.7%
Joseph P. McDermott	2118	15.7%	4041	29.3%
Michael F. Kenneally	1394	10.3%
Thomas J. Doherty	1335	9.9%
Patrick J. Walsh	1026	7.6%
Nancy E. Kavanagh	965	7.1%

District 4

Councillor Charles Yancey was re-elected.

Candidates[5]	General Election[11]
	Votes	%
Charles Yancey	5302	87.6%
J. R. Rucker	753	12.4%

District 5

The seat of Councillor Thomas Menino, who had been acting mayor since July 1993 and won the mayoral election, was won by Daniel F. Conley.

Candidates[5]	Preliminary Election[6]		General Election[12]
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Daniel F. Conley	6210	37.9%	10,631	59.1%
John Pulgini	3884	23.7%	7355	40.9%
John P. Grady	2945	18.0%
Rita E. Walsh	1990	12.1%
John J. Kenney	642	3.9%
Kenneth W. Spolsino	436	2.7%
John H. Sheerin	276	1.7%

District 6

Councillor Maura Hennigan was re-elected.

Candidates[5]	General Election[13]
	Votes	%
Maura Hennigan	10,465	64.7%
Gerard J. McCarthy	5714	35.3%

District 7

Councillor Anthony Crayton was defeated by Gareth R. Saunders.

Candidates[5]	Preliminary Election[6][7]		General Election‡[14]		Recount[15][16][17]
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
Gareth R. Saunders	1447†	25.7%	3028	49.4%	3137	50.7%
Anthony Crayton	1824†	32.4%	3097	50.6%	3047	49.3%
Roy A. Owens	1417†	25.2%
Phyllis Bailey	693	12.3%
Ray F. Green	247	4.4%

† per preliminary election recount
‡ Saunders was later declared the winner, due to discovery of a tally sheet error;^[18] his victory was subsequently confirmed via recount.

District 8

Councillor David Scondras was defeated by Thomas M. Keane Jr.

Candidates[5]	Preliminary Election[6]		General Election[14]		Recount[15][19][20]
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
Thomas M. Keane Jr.	2403	39.8%	3648	50.2%	3649	50.2%
David Scondras	3271	54.2%	3621	49.8%	3622	49.8%
Dan Huck	366	6.1%

District 9

Councillor Brian J. McLaughlin was re-elected.

Candidates[5]	Preliminary Election[6]		General Election[14]		Recount[15][21]
	Votes	%	Votes	%	Votes	%
Brian J. McLaughlin	4213	46.1%	4585	51.6%	4561	50.9%
Jerry P. McDermott	2398	26.3%	4295	48.4%	4400	49.1%
Rosina T. Bowman	1742	19.1%
Will Luxier	617	6.8%
John W. Carmilia	162	1.8%

See also

• List of members of the Boston City Council
• 1993 Boston mayoral election