On the morning of May 20 — the deadline for submitting signatures for this year’s city election— it still wasn’t clear whether at-large Councillor Henry Santana would file the minimum needed— 1,500 — to secure his place on the ballot.
That day, Mayor Wu sent out a personal message to supporters asking them to help the first-term councillor close the gap.
The last-minute scramble was successful, but it led some observers to question Santana’s prospects for re-election.
In the preliminary, Santana clinched the fourth-place spot with 30,874 votes — more than 4,000 ahead of former District 3 Councillor Frank Baker, who ran citywide for the first time this year. The margin was close enough to fuel hopes among Baker supporters that he might be able to surpass Santana in the November final.
Instead, Santana surged ahead, finishing with 43,904 votes — more than 16,000 ahead of Baker.
Santana attributes his improved performance in the general to the hard work of campaigning.
“We really tried to focus on being as present as possible, knocking on more doors,” he said. “We knew we were being out-fundraised and outspent at every level of this race.”
Santana reported $90,207 in campaign donations — the lowest haul of any of the top five at-large candidates — but he had no shortage of public endorsements, which included backing from seven of his council colleagues, nine state legislators, US Sen. Ed Markey and Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden.
He also received endorsements from 12 labor unions and several local activist groups including Right to the City Vote, Jamaica Plain Progressive and West Roxbury/Roslindale progressives.
The unions —in particular members of AFSCME Council 93 and SEIU locals—provided coverage at polling places, volunteers for voter canvassing and, in some cases, funds for glossy mailers that went to voters across the city.
Less visible in Santana’s campaign was the support he received from Wu, whose own campaign apparatus benefitted from scores of city workers in neighborhoods throughout Boston.
The Bold Boston political action committee formed to support Wu, supported Santana with $175,000 in advertising, almost double what his campaign itself spent.
Santana said the mayor’s support, as well as the endorsements of other elected officials, demonstrates his ability to work well with others.
“I pride myself in being a collaborator, not just with Mayor Michelle Wu, but also with my colleagues,” he said. “I think the meaning behind that is that I work with them. And it’s no different with the administration. We live in a strong mayor city. In order to get things done, you need to be able to collaborate with the administration.”
Santana says that approach helped him produce tangible results in his first term. One concrete gain was an ordinance codifying the city’s Office of Youth Engagement and Advancement, which was passed Oct. 29.
“They wrote up the policy, they drafted it,” he said of the teens on his council. “And they testified in the hearing and then last week with Council voted on it.”
He also cites the creation of a $110 million accelerator fund for construction of mixed-income housing, following a hearing he held on social housing.
“I believe that, even though housing is a human right and everyone deserves that, I also believe everyone deserves high-quality housing,” he said. “The mixed-income social housing concept does just that. It provides everyone with the same amenities, the same high-quality housing.”
Moving forward, Santana says he’s looking at ways to help immigrant communities being targeted by federal immigration officials. He wants to expand the city’s free legal services for immigrant families, which currently makes attorneys available for free consultation twice monthly.
“We need to really expand that and make sure that people know about it,” he said. “I’m going to look at that with my colleagues to see how we can increase more investment and that line item.”
Santana said he’s also heard Bostonian’s concerns about public safety while on the campaign trail.
“We are the safest large city in America,” he said. “I think most people can agree with that, but I don’t think most people feel safe.”
Santana says he plans to address issues such as discarded needles, store robberies, and public nuisances caused by the spillover effects from the Mass and Cass area.
As chair of the Council’s Public Safety Committee, Santana presided over a series of contentious meeting over issues including police surveillance and the city’s participation in the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, a federally funded consortium of local police departments created to share information with federal agencies, including the Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
In an August hearing, a majority of councillors voted to block the police department from using social media tools it had previously deployed without Council approval, overriding votes from Santana and four others.
Santana acknowledged that the city has yet to strike a good balance between surveillance and civil liberties.
“I think we still need to figure out what that balance is,” he said. “I think my role there is to try to make things as transparent, as possible. I try to convene different hearings and different meetings, so that way we know what’s happening.”
Last week, one of his colleagues, Gabriela Coletta Zapata, announced that she’d secured enough support to ensure her election as the next council president, succeeding Ruthzee Louijeune, who is limited to a two-year term by city statute.
Santana will serve as the body’s vice-president, Coletta Zapata said.
For his part, Santana told The Reporter that he also hopes to continue his role as chair of the Council’s Public Safety and Criminal Justice committee as well as championing youth issues.
“I want to get things done,” he said. “I want to be an effective city councillor. And that involves being able to partner with the administration and with the mayor to get things done.”
