Kim Janey is expected to be the first Black person and first woman to serve as Boston’s mayor, according to a report by the Boston Globe.
The news comes after the city’s current mayor Marty Walsh, was tapped to be Secretary of Labor by President-elect Joe Biden.
Janey was elected as a city council member in 2017 and selected as city council president last year.
According to a report by WBUR, the city charter of Boston makes provisions for the city council president to step in as mayor, if the role is vacated. With Walsh’s impending departure, Janey would be expected to fill the role until the scheduled election in November takes place.
The report details that if Walsh leaves before March 5, a special election would have to take place 120-140 days from the day he resigned.
If he leaves after March 5, City Clerk Maureen Feeney says the city could proceed with its regularly-scheduled election in November, and the winner of that election could immediately take office without having to wait for a January inauguration in 2022.
Walsh will have to be approved by the US Senate to be officially appointed to Biden's Cabinet.
Tanisha Sullivan, President of the Boston chapter of the NAACP, said that the civil rights group is celebrating Janey’s expected election, while remaining focused on the November election in the city.
“While we will certainly celebrate City Councilor Janey, what will be most important is that our eyes are squarely focused on the [mayoral] race. That we have a campaign that really does speak to the needs of the people of Boston. That we have a campaign that affords us all to get an understanding of the vision that candidates have for our city –– a vision that I believe should include a focus on economic, social and racial justice,” Sullivan said.
Two other women of color council members Michelle Wu and Andrea Campbell are already running for mayor.
Others can still join the race, but Sullivan said it’s “an exciting prospect” for Boston to have a Black woman or other woman of color in the Mayor’s office.
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