October 29, 2015
As the countdown clock ticks down to election day District 4 City Councillor Charles Yancey and challenger Andrea Campbell continue to rack up endorsements and brace for the final push.
Yancey, first elected in 1983, has held his seat for 33 years and is the longest serving Boston councillor. In the midst of his 17th run for election, on the strength of his track record in office, he said, “every one is unique, believe it or not.”
Campbell was a relative unknown before this season, though she touts a strong personal narrative, a history of advocacy, and a pledge of accessibility and accountability. An intensive door-knocking campaign and community listening series have left her ready for the election but still hard at work, she said.
“I feel incredibly energized and humbled by the conversations I have had over the last several months on the doors and at community meetings,” said Campbell.
Both have secured notable endorsements. A Yancey campaign letter bore the signatures of City Councillor Chuck Turner, former state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, state Rep. Gloria Fox, Suffolk County Register of Probate and Family Court Felix Arroyo Sr., and District 7 Councillor Tito Jackson. The Dorchester People for Peace endorsed him this week, praising his calls for police accountability and his housing plan.
Campbell has been buoyed by endorsements from Attorney General Maura Healey, Laborers Local 223 and the New England Regional Council of Carpenters and Carpenters Local 67. The Boston Herald endorsed her Tuesday.
Since November 2014, Campbell has raised just over $189,000 and has a current balance of $31,285 as of Oct. 19, based on filings with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign & Political Finance. Yancey’s war chest stood at $26,533 on the same date.
Campbell swept the primary, with 58 percent of the vote to Yancey’s 34 percent, at the end of a day with ignominiously low turnout (about 7 percent).
“Usually my opponent is much better known,” Yancey told the Reporter in a phone interview. He remained surprised by the low turnout but hopeful that it would improve in the general election, urging his constituents to vote.