2017 Boston mayoral election


The Boston mayoral election of 2017 was held on Tuesday, November 7, 2017, to elect the mayor of Boston, Massachusetts. Incumbent Democratic mayor Marty J. Walsh won re-election to a second term, defeating District 7 City Councilor Tito Jackson, and two long-shot candidates, Robert Cappucci and Joseph Wiley.
A non-partisan preliminary election was held on Tuesday, September 26, 2017, with Walsh and Jackson advancing into a November runoff election. In the November election, Walsh secured a landslide victory, winning by a two-to-one margin. A total of 109,034 of the city's approximately 392,000 registered voters cast a ballot in the November election. The voter turnout of 27.80% was down ten percentage points from the 2013 mayoral election, which generated more excitement as the first Boston mayoral race in a generation without an incumbent.

Endorsements

By October 2017, ten of the 13 Boston City Council members endorsed Walsh for re-election. Ayanna Pressley remained neutral due to her husband being employed by the mayor, and Andrea Campbell declined to comment on her preference.
The Boston Globe editorial board endorsed Walsh for a second time, citing his excellence in handling housing and the city's vibrancy during this first term. The Boston Herald editorial board also endorsed Walsh, saying the newspaper was wrong not to give their endorsement to Walsh in 2013.

Polling

Walsh led in polls by substantial margins. An Emerson College Polling Society survey in a September poll of likely voters found Walsh at 52%, Jackson at 21%, Cappucci at 7%, and Wiley at 5%. A Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll in June 2017 found Walsh with a 31-point lead.

Results

Notes: all candidates are nonpartisan, 0.66% of votes in the general election were write-ins.