Boston City Council race: 4 were elected, but 5 had strong bases

Matt O'Malley has his typically smart rundown on the ward-by-ward results for the Boston City Council race on Tuesday. He notes that the candidates elected to the four at-large seats all had parts of the city where they topped the ticket:

• John Connolly in Charlestown, East Boston, downtown, the Back Bay, and West Roxbury
• Steve Murphy in South Boston, East Dorchester, Hyde Park, Allston, and Brighton
• Felix Arroyo in the South End and Jamaica Plain
• Ayanna Pressley in the Fenway and the Codman Square section of Dorchester

The fifth-place candidate also had bragging rights: Tito Jackson won three of the city's 22 wards, in Roxbury and in next-door sections of Dorchester. O'Malley suggests that Jackson might be a formidable opponent to Roxbury district councilor Chuck Turner in the future. His seventh- or eighth placing showing in Charlestown, South Boston, and the downtown area shows that he has some work to do if he wants to run again citywide.

Surprisingly, the only candidate not to finish last lower than fifth place in any ward was Arroyo, who was only third overall. (Connolly and Murphy each finished sixth in wards that included parts of Roxbury.) That may say something about Arroyo's broad geographic appeal, but it's also notable that there was a steep dropoff from second to third place in Charlestown, South Boston, West Roxbury, and Brighton, where incumbents Connolly and Murphy were far ahead of everyone else. Apparently, the field of newcomers didn't hold that much appeal in these traditionally conservative neighborhoods.