Boston City Councilors Michelle Wu and Annissa Essaibi George were the winners of Tuesday’s preliminary mayoral election. The winner will be the first woman and the first non-white person to be elected into office.

“This is the moment in Boston that our campaign and our coalition has been calling for for a long time,” Wu told reporters Wednesday at Boston City Hall. “We got in this race over a year ago — actually exactly a year ago today — to ensure that Boston would step up to meet this moment.”

Wu, 36, is the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants. As the front runner of the preliminary elections with 33% of votes, she has focused her campaign on climate change and housing policy. She is also known for introducing the country’s first city-level Green New Deal and for proposing free public transportation.

Essaibi George, 47, is a first-generation Arab Polish-American and she followed Wu with 22.5% of votes. Essaibi George describes herself as a moderate Democrat and has criticized Wu for her more “academic” approach to governing.

“You won’t find me on a soapbox, you’ll find me in the neighborhoods, doing the work,” Essaibi George said in a debate last week.

Though she fell behind Wu, Essaibi George won key endorsements from unions representing firefighters, nurses and emergency medical technicians.

Competing with Essaibi George and Wu during the preliminaries were acting Mayor Kim Janey, City Councilor Andrea Campbell and former economic development chief John Barros. All candidates were people of color -- a first for Boston.

The November election comes after former Mayor Martin Walsh left in January to become President Joe Biden’s labor secretary. After his departure, Janey took over as the city’s mayor.

RELATED STORIES