Boston City Council passes new redistricting plan; will judge approve?

The Boston City Council voted 10-2 today for a new redistricting map that keeps a largely White part of Dorchester in its old council district.

Councilor Kendra Lara (West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain), who had her own plan, voted against, as did Councilor Julia Mejia (at large), who said the plan ignored the people she was hearing from, but did not specify which people or what their complaints were.

The map, if not appealed by an ad-hoc group of largely South Boston and Dorchester residents and politicians would go into effect for the nine district seats in this fall's primaries and final elections. The group included Councilors Frank Baker, Ed Flynn, Michael Flaherty and Erin Murphy, all of whom put their money where their mouths are, collectively contributing tens of thousands of dollars to pay the lawyer who convinced a federal judge to throw out an earlier plan.

The council was forced to re-draw lines because of the 2020 federal census, which showed a dramatic increase in population in District 2 - South Boston, the South End, Chinatown and downtown.