William King (Massachusetts)
William King ran for election to the Boston City Council to represent District 6 in Massachusetts. He lost in the general election on November 7, 2023.
Biography
King was born in the Boston, Massachusetts, neighborhood of Dorchester and graduated from TechBoston Academy in 2007. As of 2017, King was studying social science at Quincy College. His professional experience includes working as a technology specialist in the Boston Public School system for six years and as an IT manager for a local real estate company.[1]
Elections
2023
See also: City elections in Boston, Massachusetts (2023)
General election
General election for Boston City Council District 6
Benjamin Weber defeated William King in the general election for Boston City Council District 6 on November 7, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Benjamin Weber (Nonpartisan) | 60.8 | 9,584 |
 | William King (Nonpartisan) | 38.7 | 6,099 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.6 | 88 | ||
| Total votes: 15,771 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Boston City Council District 6
Benjamin Weber and William King defeated incumbent Kendra Lara in the primary for Boston City Council District 6 on September 12, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Benjamin Weber (Nonpartisan) | 42.3 | 4,983 |
| ✔ | | William King (Nonpartisan) | 37.4 | 4,405 |
| Kendra Lara (Nonpartisan) | 20.1 | 2,371 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.3 | 34 | ||
| Total votes: 11,793 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for King in this election.
2019
See also: City elections in Boston, Massachusetts (2019)
General election
General election for Boston City Council At-large (4 seats)
The following candidates ran in the general election for Boston City Council At-large on November 5, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Michelle Wu (Nonpartisan) | 20.7 | 41,664 |
| ✔ |  | Annissa Essaibi George (Nonpartisan) | 17.0 | 34,109 |
| ✔ |  | Michael Flaherty (Nonpartisan) | 16.6 | 33,284 |
| ✔ |  | Julia Mejia (Nonpartisan) | 11.2 | 22,492 |
 | Alejandra St. Guillen (Nonpartisan) | 11.2 | 22,491 | |
 | Erin Murphy (Nonpartisan) | 8.4 | 16,867 | |
 | Althea Garrison (Nonpartisan) | 8.1 | 16,189 | |
 | David Halbert (Nonpartisan) | 6.6 | 13,214 | |
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.4 | 704 | ||
| Total votes: 201,014 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Boston City Council At-large (4 seats)
The following candidates ran in the primary for Boston City Council At-large on September 24, 2019.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Michelle Wu (Nonpartisan) | 19.4 | 26,663 |
| ✔ | | Annissa Essaibi George (Nonpartisan) | 13.8 | 19,020 |
| ✔ | | Michael Flaherty (Nonpartisan) | 13.7 | 18,788 |
| ✔ | | Alejandra St. Guillen (Nonpartisan) | 8.7 | 11,929 |
| ✔ | | Julia Mejia (Nonpartisan) | 7.9 | 10,817 |
| ✔ | | Althea Garrison (Nonpartisan) | 7.1 | 9,737 |
| ✔ | | Erin Murphy (Nonpartisan) | 6.8 | 9,398 |
| ✔ | | David Halbert (Nonpartisan) | 4.8 | 6,547 |
| Martin Keogh (Nonpartisan) | 4.5 | 6,249 | ||
| Jeffrey Ross (Nonpartisan) | 3.7 | 5,084 | ||
| Priscilla Flint-Banks (Nonpartisan) | 3.0 | 4,103 | ||
 | Domingos DaRosa (Nonpartisan) | 2.1 | 2,843 | |
| Michel Denis (Nonpartisan) | 1.5 | 2,113 | ||
| William King (Nonpartisan) | 1.3 | 1,811 | |
| Herb Alexander Lozano (Nonpartisan) | 1.1 | 1,511 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.6 | 767 | ||
| Total votes: 137,380 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
2017
The city of Boston, Massachusetts, held elections for mayor and city council on November 7, 2017. A primary election occurred on September 26, 2017. All 13 seats on the city council were up for election. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was May 23, 2017.
The following candidates ran in the general election for four at-large seats on the Boston City Council.[2]
| Boston City Council, At-large General Election, 2017 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Michelle Wu Incumbent |
24.47% | 65,040 |
| Ayanna Pressley Incumbent |
21.64% | 57,520 |
| Michael Flaherty Incumbent |
19.44% | 51,673 |
| Annissa Essaibi George Incumbent |
17.14% | 45,564 |
| Althea Garrison | 6.87% | 18,253 |
| Domingos DaRosa | 4.38% | 11,647 |
| William King | 3.30% | 8,773 |
| Pat Payaso | 2.30% | 6,124 |
| Write-in votes | 0.46% | 1,230 |
| Total Votes | 265,824 | |
| Source: City of Boston, "Official At-Large Election Results," accessed November 27, 2017 | ||
Campaign themes
2023
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
William King did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
William King did not complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.
2017
Candidate survey
King participated in Ballotpedia's 2017 survey of municipal government candidates.[3] The following sections display his responses to the survey questions. When asked what his top priority would be if elected, the candidate made the following statement:
| “ | My top priority would be to work on our education system. If we solve education I believe we can alleviate many other issues this city faces. I will work on get BPS more funds, a school shouldn't have to fail to get the resources it needs to succeed.[4] | ” |
| —William King (October 31, 2017)[5] | ||
Ranking the issues
The candidate was asked to rank the following issues by importance in the city, with 1 being the most important and 12 being the least important: city services (trash, utilities, etc.), civil rights, crime reduction/prevention, environment, government transparency, homelessness, housing, K-12 education, public pensions/retirement funds, recreational opportunities, transportation, and unemployment. This table displays this candidate's rankings from most to least important.
| Issue importance ranking | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Candidate's ranking |
Issue | Candidate's ranking |
Issue |
| K-12 education | City services (trash, utilities, etc.) | ||
| Housing | Public pensions/retirement funds | ||
| Crime reduction/prevention | Environment | ||
| Government transparency | Civil rights | ||
| Transportation | Unemployment | ||
| Homelessness | Recreational opportunities | ||
Nationwide municipal issues
The candidate was asked to answer questions from Ballotpedia regarding issues facing cities across America. The questions are in the left column and the candidate's responses are in the right column. Some questions provided multiple choices, which are noted after those questions.
| Question | Response |
|---|---|
| Important | |
| Local | |
| Increased economic opportunities. I think we need more community policing, and a police department the reflects our city. Also we need to provide everyone with equal opportunity to succeed in life so they don't feel like crime is their only option. | |
| Focusing on small business development. Small businesses are the backbone of this city. When small businesses thrive, Boston thrives. Small businesses provide the jobs and economic growth Boston needs. We need to make owning and starting a small business in the city easier. Simplify the permits and licenses process so that businesses can open the doors as soon as possible. Business owners should not be waiting months or sometimes even years for a occupancy certificate. | |
| Boston is one of the leading cities in this country for innovation and economic development. Boston has become a destination city for many around the world. | |
| Our education system is failing our youth, we need to be mold our kids to be creative, critical, and independent thinkers. We must give the teachers the resources they need to provide a quality education. |
Additional themes
King's website highlighted the following campaign themes:[6]
Accessibility
- Excerpt: "I will be someone who is easily accessible to the public, by holding office hours throughout the city so residents from all neighborhoods can be heard."
Housing
- Excerpt: "We want Boston to be a place where our residents can afford to stay; hard working individuals should not be priced out of Boston. I would propose an Increase in affordable housing across the city."
Education
- Excerpt: "Let’s get class room sizes smaller so teachers can have more one on one time with students. We should also look into adding more vocational programs to schools so students graduate with not only a diploma but a certificate in a field of their choice."
Public safety
- Excerpt: "Fund the police and fire department so they can get the safest equipment, our first responders risk their lives every day to keep the city safe they should be equipped with the safest technology and equipment there is to keep you and themselves safe."
Sustainability
- Excerpt: "Start process to move Boston onto renewable energy to help combat climate change and be a model city of the rest of the country. Let’s bring solar and wind farms to the city. Expand the amount of electric car chargers, to promote driving electric cars. Also Provide businesses with incentives to go Green."
Transportation
- Excerpt: "Auto insurance is too high in the city, let's look into creating safe driving programs to get insurance premiums affordable. Let's update MBTA infrastructure within the city. Also build upon our existing Hub Way, and make bicycle travel safer by having more protected bike lanes."
See also
2023 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ William King campaign website, "About William," accessed July 7, 2017
- ↑ City of Boston, "Election Department Certifies Candidates For Municipal Election," June 5, 2017
- ↑ Note: The candidate's answers have been reproduced here verbatim without edits or corrections by Ballotpedia.
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Ballotpedia's municipal government candidate survey, 2017, "William King's Responses," October 31, 2017
- ↑ William King campaign website, "The Issues," accessed July 7, 2017
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