Michael F. Flaherty

Michael F. Flaherty (born May 4, 1969) is an at-large member of the Boston City Council. Flaherty is a member of the United States Democratic Party. First elected to the council in 1999 with a term starting in 2000, he was elected council vice president in 2001 and served as council president from 2002 to 2006. Flaherty announced in July 2023 that he would not be pursuing another term in office. In addition to his City Council activities, he unsuccessfully ran for mayor in 2009, which led to his absence from the council between 2009 and 2013.

Michael F. Flaherty
Flaherty in 2023
Member of the Boston City Council
at-large
Assumed office
January 2014
Preceded byJohn R. Connolly and Felix G. Arroyo
In office
January 2000 – January 2010
Preceded byDapper O'Neil
Succeeded byAyanna Pressley and Felix G. Arroyo
President of the Boston City Council
In office
2002–2006
Preceded byCharles Yancey
Succeeded byMaureen Feeney
Personal details
Born (1969-05-04) May 4, 1969
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseLaurene Flaherty
ChildrenPatrick, Michael III, and twins Elizabeth and Jack
ResidenceSouth Boston
Alma materBoston College (BA)
Boston University (JD)

Biography

Flaherty is from South Boston. His father, Michael F. Flaherty, Sr., is a former associate justice of the Boston Municipal Court and a former state representative. He is a graduate of Boston College High School and Boston College, and earned his law degree at Boston University. Prior to being elected to the Council in 1999, he was an assistant district attorney in the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office.

City Council
Flaherty in 2018

Flaherty was first elected to the council in November 1999, as an at-large member. He was then re-elected to multiple two-year terms, serving through 2009. He was the top vote-getter in the city council at-large race in November 2003, November 2005, and November 2007. His margin of victory in 2005 over first runner-up Felix D. Arroyo was 5,671 votes, the widest margin since the council was restructured in 1983. He did not run for re-election in November 2009, as he was running for Mayor of Boston. In the November 2011 election, Flaherty placed fifth in the at-large race, missing the fourth and final seat by 925 votes. In the November 2013 election, Flaherty returned to the council as an at-large member. He has subsequently been re-elected in November 2015 and November 2017. He was again re-elected in November 2019.[1] He was the lead vote-getter in the 2021 Preliminary Municipal Election. [2] In July 2023, Flaherty announced that he would not be pursuing an additional term in office.[3]

Notable events

Flaherty gained media attention in April 2019 by way of his comments regarding a proposal to charge for resident parking permits. In a City Council hearing on the issue, he stated that bus stop spacing and stop length were a major cause of the city's parking woes and instead suggested coordinating with the MBTA to start a conversation about removing some of them. His comments were met with backlash from the public and transportation advocates, with many pointing to his ownership of five cars in a city as the real problem.[4][5][6] The Twitter hashtag "#FiveCarFlaherty" was used by many to voice their opposition to his comments.[4][5]

In 2021, he was among a group that voted against legislation, which ultimately was passed by a 7-5 vote of the City Council, that restricted the use of rubber bullets, tear gas, and pepper spray by the Boston Police Department.[7]

Boston mayoral campaign
See also: 2009 Boston mayoral election
Flaherty campaigning for mayor during the 2009 Dorchester Day Parade

Flaherty announced on January 25, 2009, that he was running for Mayor of Boston.[8][9] He raised more than $600,000 for his campaign.[10] According to The Boston Globe, only 9% of Flaherty's contributions came from out-of-state, compared to fellow candidate Sam Yoon's 58%.[11]

After finishing second to incumbent Thomas Menino in the preliminary election in September, Flaherty was defeated by Menino in the general election on November 3, 2009. Flaherty lost by the smallest margin (57% to 42%) of anyone who ran against Menino in a mayoral race.

Electoral history
Governor Maura Healey, Flaherty, Mayor Michelle Wu, and Congressman Stephen Lynch during Boston's 2023 Saint Patrick's Day celebrations

City Council
2013 Boston at-large City Council election
Candidate Primary election[12] General election[13]
Votes % Votes %
Ayanna Pressley (incumbent) 42,915 16.71 60,799 18.30
Michelle Wu 29,384 11.44 59,741 17.98
Michael F. Flaherty 39,904 15.54 55,104 16.59
Stephen J. Murphy (incumbent) 31,728 12.35 44,993 13.54
Annissa Essaibi George 12,244 4.77 30,538 9.19
Jeffrey Ross 13,939 5.43 28,879 8.69
Martin Keogh 15,743 6.13 26,500 7.98
Jack Kelly III 11,909 4.64 23,967 7.22
Catherine O'Neill 10,952 4.26  
Althea Garrison 10,268 4.00  
Ramon Soto 9,928 3.87  
Philip Frattaroli 5,832 2.27  
Gareth Saunders 5,363 2.09  
Christopher Conroy 3,433 1.34  
Seamus Whelan 3,118 1.21  
Francisco White 2,745 1.07  
Douglas Wohn 2,382 0.93  
Frank Addivinola Jr. 2,240 0.87  
Keith Kenyon 1,950 0.76  
Jamarhl Crawford 21† 0.01  
all others 832 0.32 1,658 0.50

† write-in votes

2015 Boston at-large City Council election[14]
Candidate Votes  %
Ayanna Pressley (incumbent) 31,783 24.21
Michelle Wu (incumbent) 28,908 22.02
Michael F. Flaherty (incumbent) 26,473 20.16
Annissa Essaibi George 23,447 17.86
Stephen J. Murphy (incumbent) 19,546 14.89
Jovan Lacet write-in 95 0.07
Charles Yancey write-in 39 0.03
Jean-Claud Sanon write-in 25 0.02
Andrea Campbell write-in 13 0.01
all others 959 0.73
2017 Boston at-large City Council election[15]
Candidate Votes  %
Michelle Wu (incumbent) 65,040 24.47
Ayanna Pressley (incumbent) 57,520 21.64
Michael F. Flaherty (incumbent) 51,673 19.44
Annissa Essaibi George (incumbent) 45,564 17.14
Althea Garrison 1,825 6.87
Domingos DaRosa 11,647 4.38
William King 8,773 3.30
Pat Payaso 6,124 2.30
all others 1,230 0.46
2019 Boston at-large City Council election
Candidate Primary election[16] General election[17]
Votes % Votes %
Michelle Wu (incumbent) 26,622 19.41 41,664 20.73
Annissa Essaibi George (incumbent) 18,993 13.85 34,109 16.97
Michael F. Flaherty (incumbent) 18,766 13.68 33,284 16.56
Julia Mejia 10,799 7.87 22,492 11.19
Alejandra St. Guillen 11,910 8.68 22,491 11.19
Erin Murphy 9,385 6.84 16,867 8.39
Althea Garrison (incumbent) 9,720 7.09 16,189 8.05
David Halbert 6,354 4.76 13,214 6.57
Martin Keogh 6,246 4.55  
Jeffrey Ross 5,078 3.70  
Priscilla Flint-Banks 4,094 2.98  
Domingos DaRosa 2,840 2.07  
Michel Denis 2,108 1.54  
William King 1,809 1.32  
Herb Lozano 1,510 1.10  
all others 766 0.56 704 0.35
2021 Boston City Council at-large election
Candidate Primary election[18] General election
Votes % Votes %
Michael F. Flaherty (incumbent) 41,299 15.0 62,606 17.4
Julia Mejia (incumbent) 38,765 14.1 62,058 17.3
Ruthzee Louijeune 33,425 12.2 54,898 15.3
Erin Murphy 22,835 8.3 43,076 12.0
David Halbert 16,921 6.2 42,765 11.9
Carla Monteiro 18,844 6.9 39,876 11.1
Bridget Nee-Walsh 15,118 5.5 27,591 7.7
Althea Garrison 16,810 6.1 25,078 7.0
Kelly Bates 12,735 4.6  
Alexander Gray 11,263 4.1  
Jon Spillane 11,155 4.1  
Said Abdikarim 7,725 2.8  
Domingos DaRosa 7,139 2.6  
Donnie Dionico Palmer Jr. 6,823 2.5  
Roy A. Owens Sr. 5,223 1.9  
James Rignald Colimon 4,671 1.7  
Nick Vance 3,943 1.4  
Write-ins 845 0.3 1,350 0.4
Total 274,694 100 359,294 100

References
  1. "Bosto Municipal Election November 2019". boston.gov. 3 October 2016. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  2. "Flaherty, Mejia top the field in at-large vote | Dorchester Reporter".
  3. Alanez, Tonya (July 5, 2023). "After 20 years of service, Boston City Councilor Michael Flaherty won't seek re-election". The Boston Globe. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
  4. Kelly, Meghan B. (April 26, 2019). "A Boston City Councilor Reveals He Has 5 Cars. Twitter Freaked Out". WBUR-FM. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
  5. Buell, Spencer (April 25, 2019). "City Councilor With Five Cars Thinks Boston Has Too Many Bus Stops". Boston. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
  6. Sutherland, Brooks (April 24, 2019). "Parking permit proposal draws mixed reaction from Boston neighborhoods". Boston Herald. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
  7. "Boston City Council passes tear gas, rubber bullet limits on second attempt". Boston Herald. 28 April 2021. Retrieved 4 October 2021.
  8. Drake, John C. (January 26, 2009). "Flaherty starts his mayoral quest". The Boston Globe. p. A.1. Retrieved March 2, 2018 – via pqarchiver.com.
  9. "Here is an email from At-Large City Councilor Michael Flaherty, announcing his candidacy for Mayor of Boston". wickedlocal.com. January 26, 2009. Retrieved March 2, 2018.
  10. Drake, John C.; Collette, Matt (2009-02-09). "Yoon launches a pioneering bid for mayor". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
  11. Drake, John C. (2009-02-04). "Yoon's out-of-state support bankrolls a possible run". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2010-05-13.
  12. "CITY OF BOSTON PRELIMINARY MUNICIPAL ELECTION - SEPTEMBER 24, 2013 CITY COUNCILLOR AT LARGE" (PDF). www.cityofboston.gov. City of Boston. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  13. "CITY OF BOSTON MUNICIPAL ELECTION - NOVEMBER 5, 2013 CITY COUNCILLOR AT LARGE" (PDF). www.cityofboston.gov. City of Boston. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  14. "CITY OF BOSTONMUNICIPAL ELECTION - NOVEMBER 3, 2015 CITY COUNCILLOR AT LARGE" (PDF). www.cityofboston.gov. City of Boston. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  15. "CITY OF BOSTON MUNICIPAL ELECTION - NOVEMBER 7, 2015 CITY COUNCILLOR AT LARGE" (PDF). www.cityofboston.gov. City of Boston. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  16. "CITY COUNCILLOR AT LARGE" (PDF). City of Boston. September 24, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019 – via boston.gov.
  17. "CITY OF BOSTON MUNICIPAL ELECTION - NOVEMBER 5, 2019 - RECOUNT CITY COUNCILLOR AT LARGE" (PDF). www.boston.gov. City of Boston. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
  18. "Unofficial Election Results". Boston.gov. 3 October 2016. Retrieved September 15, 2021.

Further reading
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