WINNER: Annissa Essaibi-George celebrates her victory.
'THIS IS BANANAS': Andrea Campbell greets her supporters during her election-night party in Dorchester.
Incoming Boston City Councilors Andrea Campbell and Annissa Essaibi-George upset incumbants to win their seats in last night's city election.
Stephen J. Murphy and Charles C. Yancey — the City Council's two longest-serving members — have been ousted by large margins as voters swept two fresh faces into Boston City Hall — Annissa Essaibi-George and Andrea Campbell.
Murphy, an 18-year veteran who finished fourth in the at-large field each of the last two cycles, was considered by political watchers to be the most vulnerable incumbent to second-time challenger Essaibi-George of Dorchester.
Yancey, who has held his District 4 seat since 1984, lost to Campbell, 33, an Ivy League-educated lawyer and Patrick administration alum who topped him in the preliminary.
"This is bananas!" exulted Campbell, who went door-to-door in Mattapan and Dorchester to sell her captivating rise from a troubled family. Asked what pushed her to the win, she turned to the cheering crowd in Dorchester's Blarney Stone, which included supporters such as former Democratic state party chair John Walsh and Suffolk Sheriff Steve Tompkins.
"All of this — grassroots!" she shouted.
Yancey had pitched his experience built in three decades on the council while Campbell framed herself as a new voice for the district. She also hauled in nearly $200,000 in campaign contributions through the end of last month, an impressive haul that marked her as a dangerous challenger to the seasoned Yancey.
Yancey's camp briefly shut down his party at the Unity Sports Club in Dorchester before he returned to deliver his concession speech.
"We know that a lot of people who should have gone to the polls didn't go to the polls," Yancey said, adding he was "humbled" by the 32 years voters gave him.
"I am not going away," Yancey said, insisting he'll try to keep serving his community.
"It's time to start a new chapter in my life," Murphy said.
In a typically low-turnout off-year election, only 13.6 percent of the city's 372,889 registered voters went to the polls. Ayanna Pressley topped the at-large field, followed by Michelle Wu and Michael F. Flaherty. District 7 Councilor Tito Jackson fended off former Boston cop Charles Clemons, and District 5's Tim McCarthy beat activist Jean-Claude Sanon. Frank Baker bested boxer Donnie Palmer in District 3. The other five members — President Bill Linehan, Sal LaMattina, Matt O'Malley, Josh Zakim and Mark Ciommo — ran unopposed.