LGBT Ally O’Malley Advances in 6th District City Council Race
Former MassEquality Political Director Matt O’Malley received a majority — 53 percent — of the vote in an Oct. 19 special election for City Council in the 6th District, which includes West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain.
“I’m just absolutely elated and so humbled,” O’Malley said after the election. “I feel great, but I’m mindful of the fact that…we’ll have four more weeks of a tough campaign. I’m not taking anything for granted.”
O’Malley was followed by James W. Hennigan, who received 30 percent of the vote.
O’Malley announced July 6 that he is running for City Council in Boston’s sixth district following the announcement that City Councilor John Tobin will be stepping down after nine years in the position.
The candidate said that, although not gay himself, he’s always been a “stalwart supporter” of the LGBT community, and plans to continue his involvement if elected. “I was a member of the Gay-Straight Alliance when I was in high school; I had the dubious honor of being the first straight Political Director of MassEquality, and it was just a great opportunity,” he told Bay Windows in July. “I think that the LGBT civil rights movement is the civil rights movement of my generation.”
The two top candidates are advancing to another special election Nov. 16.