At-large city councillors Stephen Murphy and Michael Flaherty head hearing on replica firearms. Jennifer Smith photo

Boston voters will be filing to the polls for the last time this year on Nov. 3, casting ballots in many uncontested or in only mildly contested individual districts. But for the five candidates eyeing four city council at-large seats, the initially sleepy election season has become a campaign of differentiation.

The three women running for at-large seats – three-term councillor Ayanna Pressley, Michelle Wu, who is seeking a second term, and challenger Annissa Essaibi-George – have championed a diversity of interests with overlap in advocacy for small businesses and education.

Incumbents Michael Flaherty and Stephen Murphy approach the field from different angles. The at-large race did not have enough candidates for a preliminary this year.

Flaherty, considered the more progressive of the two, has dipped in and out of the council since 1999. After losing a bid to return in 2011 — he received 14.73 percent of the vote, just behind fourth-place finisher Murphy with 15.26 percent – he returned to practicing law. Then, in 2013, he was voted back onto the council.

His primary push this year is economic growth and ideas like adjusting residency requirements, sponsoring a zoning amendment for marijuana dispensaries, and championing an increase in linkage fees to reflect increased development.

Flaherty, of South Boston, told the Reporter that he sees the fears of gentrification moving through the city, with his own neighborhood feeling over-developed at the same time as some Dorchester residents are try to hold back indiscriminant build-outs.

“The key for us in government is to find a way to make sure that that development and economic opportunity is fairly spread throughout all the neighborhoods,” he said.

Murphy, the longest serving at-large councillor, is on his ninth run, which he cited on Tuesday by gesturing up at the rows of council composites hanging in City Hall conference room. He has sat continuously on the council since 1997.

One week out, Murphy said he was confident that his tenure and reputation would carry him through.

“I think people know me,” he said. “I’ve been on the council for a number of years. I could point to an number of legislative accomplishments.” He cited diesel emission reduction legislation signed into law in June, of which he was the primary author.

“I’m in the neighborhoods of Boston regularly,” Murphy said. “I don’t think because you show up for two or three months campaigning that all of a sudden you’re star of the show.”

Both claim strong Dorchester ties; Murphy was born in the neighborhood and raised in Hyde Park; Flaherty’s four children attended the Richard J. Murphy School.

Ward committee endorsements have played a role in the campaign. Dorchester’s Ward 16 has endorsed Flaherty, Murphy, and Pressley. Along with the three female candidates, Flaherty was endorsed by both DotOUT and the Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund.

Pressley and Wu locked down first and second place slots, respectively, in the 2013 municipal election. Although Wu has received criticism for her decision to vote for council president Bill Linehan, who later headed up the charge for the city council pay raise, both she and Pressley have been vocal in their rejection of both the pay raise process and the raise itself.

Essaibi-George, a Dorchester business owner and former teacher who finished fifth in a crowded 2013 field, has disparaged the pay raise.
At the city council weekly meeting on Wednesday, Flaherty brought the pay raise to a vote, with councillor Matt O’Malley noting that “[Flaherty] didn’t have to” and calling the situation “uncomfortable and frustrating” but “the right thing to do.”

The council voted 9 to 4 in favor of the mayoral recommendation for a 14 percent pay raise, bringing their salary to $99,500. Councillors Josh Zakim, Ayanna Pressley, Charles Yancey, and Michelle Wu voted against the raise, with all others in support.

Some of the candidates have received some negative coverage in the local press. Murphy took a hit in the Boston Globe in mid-October in a story about his work hours in City Hall against the backdrop of his support for the initial $20,000-a-year raise proposed by Linehan.

In an interview with the Reporter after a meeting of the Committee on Government Operations meeting, of which Flaherty is the chair, Murphy called the Globe story “nonsense.

Though he has come in fourth in both prior elections, “I’m confident I’ll be re-elected,” he said, calling Boston voters “savvy” enough to decide who the best people are to represent them. Does he have any contingency plans if he doesn’t make the cut? “No,” he said.