City Councillor-at-Large Erin Murphy is said to be planning a run for a new office this fall: Clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk County. According to Politico, Murphy will seek to replace the current clerk, fellow Dorchester resident Maura Doyle, who announced last month that she will not seek re-election in November.

“I feel that my decades as an educator and my time ... on the Boston City Council have prepared me to take on what will be an important role as the clerk of the Supreme Judicial Court,” Murphy told Politico in a statement published on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Murphy can run for the county seat without giving up her council position; however she would be expected to step down from the council if she wins the clerk’s job.

Murphy was re-elected to her second term as an at-large city councillor on Nov. 7., finishing a strong second in the citywide balloting behind current Council President Ruthzee Louijeune. She is a former Boston Public School teacher who first ran for council in 2019 and was elected on her second attempt in 2021.

Her political base is in Dorchester’s Ward 16, but Murphy showed considerable electoral growth in other parts of the city in the 2023 election, which will likely boost her candidacy for county-wide office.

In addition to Boston, Suffolk County includes Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop.

Allison S. Cartwright, an attorney and public defender, has said she is exploring a candidacy for the SJC clerk position. Doyle, who has held the position for 28 years, is currently the longest-serving elected official from Dorchester.

The clerk’s office is charged with overseeing the caseload of the Supreme Judicial Court and “administrative and disciplinary matters… affecting members of the bar,” including coordinating the formal admission of new attorneys.

If elected, Murphy’s departure from the council would create a vacancy that would be filled through the end of the term by the fifth-place finisher in last year’s municipal election— Bridget Nee-Walsh of South Boston.