District 6: O'Malley won more votes than Hennigan in both JP and West Roxbury

WEST ROXBURY — Matt O'Malley thanked all of his supporters at Kelleher's on Tuesday night after placing first in the preliminary election for the Boston City Council District 6 seat. But he also had an important message.

"This is just the beginning. A new campaign starts tomorrow," cheered O'Malley, then he said there will be a 4:30 p.m. standout at the Holy Name Rotary in less than 24 hours - and he needs volunteers. "This was just the playoffs. We've got another election in four weeks."

In O'Malley's "playoffs" he took home 53 percent of the vote (3,827 votes), while Jim Hennigan took 30 percent of the vote (2196 votes), according to unofficial election results on the Boston's Elections Department site. 

The two will face each other in a Nov. 16th final election to determine who will be the next city councilor for Jamaica Plain. The seat also represents WestRoxbury, and a little bit of Roslindale and Mission Hill.

Sean Ryan finished third with 8 percent (611 votes); then came Kosta Demos with 4 percent (349 votes); and Chun-Fai Chan finished fifth with 2 percent (196 votes).

In West Roxbury, O'Malley had 2,070 votes to Hennigan's 1,468, according to unofficial results. In Jamaica Plain, O'Malley took 1,657 votes and Hennigan had 577.

With such a strong showing it was not surprising to see Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral, At-Large Boston City Councilor John Connolly and former District 6 Boston City Councilor John Tobin, at O'Malley's after election party.

O'Malley told the crowd that he had "enormous shoes to fill" if he were to replace Tobin, who left the job in July to take a position at Northeastern University. Said O'Malley, "You served the district with class and dignity."

"You earned it, Matt. You earned it," retorted Tobin, standing next to Connolly.

O'Malley also thanked Connolly, who before O'Malley entered the building talked about the election after hearing that O'Malley had won. "You can't take anything for granted. You can look at the history of this seat and the last time it was open. It can change from the preliminary to the final." The last time the seat was open current State Rep. Mike Rush beat Tobin in the preliminary, but lost in the final to Tobin.

O'Malley told the crowd that Hennigan is a good man and that both candidates will run good campaigns. He also thanked his parents, Marianne and George, supporters, family and friends.

Said his mother, "I'm just overwhelmed. I knew he was going to win... This is his dream job."

And before heading into the crowd to thank more people, O'Malley added, "I'm not kidding. 4:30 p.m. Holy Name Rotary standout."