On the same day as a historic mayoral election, attorney and small business owner Josh Zakim defeated Michael Nichols, research director for the City Council, to claim former mayoral candidate Michael Ross’s District 8 City Council seat.
Zakim, whose platform was focused mostly on education, took 52.5 percent of votes, or 4,485 votes, and Nichols received 46.9 percent, or 4,005 votes, in the election Tuesday.
“I look forward to working just as hard as your City Councilor as we did on the campaign and doing the best we can for this district and the city of Boston,” he said after the results were released at his election party.
Zakim’s supporters waited for the news at Dillon’s Restaurant on Boylston Street. Family, friends, campaign managers and endorsers spoke fondly of their experiences with Zakim as a friend and community activist.
Meggan Levene, 30, of Boston, said she has been friends with Zakim for years and admires his friendly personality and passion for helping the community.
“The reason I decided to support Josh is because this is what he was born to do,” she said. “When he talks to you, you can tell that this is what he wants to do and be doing for a long time in his career, and he really knows the community that he’s going to be serving. He’s an amazing community servant.”
Although Nichols lost the election, spirits remained high at his election party at Cornwall’s in Kenmore Square. Most of the supporters were longtime friends of Nichols, or people who had met him through ONEin3, an organization that connects young adults with resources such as housing and financial help.
“I feel awesome … that’s not a cover,” Nichols said. “Almost no one in this room had any political experience. I was tired of politics being about the wrong stuff, about winners and losers, about party labels. I wanted it to be about the people again. One last thing I’ll leave it on, this campaign took the high road at every single opportunity.”
Nichols supporters said his personal relationship with everyone he meets, his involvement in the community, his capability and his dedication are the qualities that made him so unique on the political scene.
Timothy Ney of Boston said he met Nichols on several different occasions and each time he was impressed with how he engaged every single person.
“He talked to us personally about all the issues that he cared about and why he was running,” he said. “That’s what really set him apart. It was so different from all these glossy postcards that I get, sometimes three or four of the same one from people I’ve never met. It was refreshing.”
Several other residents of District 8 said they are looking forward to see Zakim implement his plans.
Seth Urbanoski, 27, a full-time law student who worked on the Zakim campaign and resident of Boston, said he is proud of Zakim’s focus on education and hopes it will be his largest impact on the city of Boston.
“The lifeblood of our city is our strong educational institutions and one of the places we lack is our public education system for elementary and high school education,” he said. “The same education is not available to everyone, and that’s something that he has promised to work on.”
Jessica Hollander, 28, an old friend of Zakim and resident of Boston, said she is confident that he will leave a lasting effect on the district.
“He loves Boston more than anybody I know,” she said. “He’s going to bring that dedication and loyalty to his leadership as City Councilor of District 8.”