1985 Boston City Council election

Boston City Council elections were held on November 5, 1985. Eleven seats (seven district representatives and four at-large members) were contested in the general election, as the incumbents in districts 4 and 5 were unopposed. Nine seats (the four at-large members, and districts 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9) had also been contested in the preliminary election held on September 10, 1985.

At-large

Councillors Dapper O'Neil, Joseph M. Tierney, Christopher A. Iannella, and Michael J. McCormack were re-elected.

Candidates	Preliminary Election		General Election
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Dapper O'Neil	22,792	19.1%	36,686	18.8%
Joseph M. Tierney	17,014	14.3%	34,427	17.6%
Christopher A. Iannella	19,183	16.1%	33,883	17.3%
Michael J. McCormack	17,329	14.5%	27,976	14.3%
Frederick C. Langone	16,900	14.2%	26,365	13.5%
Michael W. Kane	10,018	8.4%	17,175	8.8%
Willie Mae Allen	6268	5.3%	12,533	6.4%
Althea Garrison	3565	3.0%	6402	3.3%
Kenneth C. Davis	2130	1.8%
John P. Scialdone	1588	1.3%
Richard A. Black	972	0.8%
Little L. Pittman	808	0.7%
Edward P. Malik	723	0.6%

District 1

Councillor Robert Travaglini was re-elected.

Candidates	Preliminary Election		General Election
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Robert Travaglini	3983	78.6%	5440	84.4%
Robert C. Jordan	626	12.4%	1004	15.6%
Joseph Sablone	459	9.1%

District 2

Councillor James M. Kelly was re-elected.

Candidates	Preliminary Election		General Election
	Votes	%	Votes	%
James M. Kelly	4836	62.2%	7028	62.4%
Bill Linehan	2701	34.7%	4242	37.6%
Ali J. Fiumedoro	244	3.1%

District 3

Councillor James E. Byrne was re-elected.

Candidates	General Election
	Votes	%
James E. Byrne	5828	86.2%
Arthur G. Murphy	935	13.8%

District 4

Councillor Charles Yancey ran unopposed and was re-elected.

Candidates	General Election
	Votes	%
Charles Yancey	1934	100%

District 5

Councillor Thomas Menino ran unopposed and was re-elected.

Candidates	General Election
	Votes	%
Thomas Menino	5745	100%

District 6

Councillor Maura Hennigan was re-elected.

Candidates	General Election
	Votes	%
Maura Hennigan	6143	86.4%
Richard K. Whitney	964	13.6%

District 7

Councillor Bruce Bolling was re-elected.

Candidates	Preliminary Election		General Election
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Bruce Bolling	1505	70.3%	2386	68.0%
Roy A. Owens	448	20.9%	1121	32.0%
Robert Polk	108	5.0%
Charles H. Durant	80	3.7%

District 8

Councillor David Scondras was re-elected.

Candidates	Preliminary Election		General Election
	Votes	%	Votes	%
David Scondras	2472	67.4%	3195	64.6%
Judy Porteus	538	14.7%	1750	35.4%
Glenn Fiscus	457	12.5%
Leslie F. Payne	202	5.5%

District 9

Councillor Brian J. McLaughlin was re-elected.

Candidates	Preliminary Election		General Election
	Votes	%	Votes	%
Brian J. McLaughlin	2275	45.4%	4192	55.6%
Richard M. Izzo	1869	37.3%	3353	44.4%
John F. Melia	784	15.6%
Aramis Camps	82	1.6%

See also

• List of members of the Boston City Council

Further reading

• "FOR CITY COUNCIL". The Boston Globe. October 28, 1985. Retrieved February 22, 2018 – via pqarchiver.com.
• "Charlestown Patriot and Somerville Chronicle" (PDF). Vol. 28, no. 10. November 7, 1985. Retrieved February 23, 2018 – via docdroid.net.
• "Charlestown Patriot and Somerville Chronicle" (PDF). Vol. 28, no. 9. October 31, 1985. Retrieved February 23, 2018 – via docdroid.net.
• "Charlestown Patriot and Somerville Chronicle" (PDF). Vol. 28, no. 2. September 12, 1985. Retrieved February 23, 2018 – via docdroid.net.