Election roundup: Bill to eliminate special mayoral elections advances

The State House News Service reports the House of Representatives has passed a bill that would let Boston skip any special elections for mayor should Marty Walsh resign before March 5. It now goes to the Senate, and if it approves, the governor.

Among those running for one of the four open at-large council seats this year is Said Abdikarim (right), who grew up in a Somali refuge camp, came to Boston alone as a young teen, graduated from Charlestown High School and eventually founded a venture-capital firm that invests in women-run concerns in the US and Africa. You can easily spot him on the campaign trail because he always wears an orange shirt, which he says represents the equal opportunity he says he will fight for as a councilor.

Last time, we mentioned that among the candidates running for Andrea Campbell's council seat in District 4 is Nikkia Jean-Charles, but didn't mention that she's 18. Jamaica Plain News interviews her.

Also last time, we mentioned cranky local Redditors getting cranky with the way Michelle Wu did a Reddit "Ask Me Anything" that didn't run in the Boston forum. Wu says she wanted to run it there, but the local moderators don't allow political AMAs. Also a cause of local crankiness: That she only directly answered about 15 of the 200 questions tossed her way. She says she's working on answering all of them.

Annissa Essaibi-George says Gov. Baker chose unwisely in deciding to go with large mass Covid-19 vaccination sites instead of community health centers, especially those in poorer neighborhoods.