Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is mobilizing her campaign in “all hands on deck” effort to get Henry Santana, one of her preferred City Council candidates, on the ballot ahead of Tuesday’s deadline.
Santana, a first-term, at-large councilor, needs 1,500 signatures to get on the fall ballot. As of Friday evening, he was the only at-large incumbent to have not completed his signature forms.
The other three, Ruthzee Louijeune, Julia Mejia and Erin Murphy, had already not only received certification for their nomination forms to appear on the ballot, but had reached their max for verified signatures, according to the city’s Elections Department.
With the May 20 deadline quickly approaching this Tuesday, Wu has apparently decided to take matters into her own hands to try to get Santana reelected, per a Wu campaign email that was obtained by the Herald and includes the subject line, “Help us collect signatures for Henry Santana.”
“We are reaching out to ask for your support this week to get Councilor Henry Santana on the ballot,” states a Wu campaign email sent last Wednesday. “We are nearing the signature collection deadline, and need all hands on deck. Will you join us this weekend and sign up for a shift near you?”
Before Santana was elected as an at-large councilor in November 2023, he worked as Wu’s “inaugural director” for the mayor’s office of civic organizing. He received the mayor’s endorsement in the last election cycle.
In addition to Santana’s three at-large colleagues, three citywide council challengers — Yves Mary Jean, Marvin Dee Mathelier, and Alexandra Valdez — have also received certification to appear on the ballot.
Valdez works for the Wu administration as director of the office of cultural affairs, according to her City Hall biography.
One at-large council candidate called the help Santana was receiving from the popular progressive mayor “frustrating.”
“I’m out there busting my butt and they still haven’t counted mine,” the candidate told the Herald.
Enrique Pepén, another former Wu staffer who received her endorsement in the last election cycle, is the only other incumbent councilor to not receive signature certification and qualify to appear on the fall ballot as of Friday evening.
It’s unclear whether Wu’s campaign is also mobilizing on Pepén’s behalf this weekend. Pepén is a district councilor and needs at least 200 signatures.