While the 2025 Boston municipal election wrapped up over two weeks ago, another city-wide race has been heating up: the campaign for city council president. 

While the public will not vote for this position, behind the walls of City Hall, tension and frustration have underpinned campaigns for the post. The upcoming president will be selected by the members of the Boston City Council at their first meeting of the new term in January.

Currently held by City Councilor At-Large Ruthzee Louijeune, the city council president presides over each of the body’s meetings, sets the weekly agenda, and appoints councilors to committees. A councilor must secure seven out of 13 votes among their colleagues to successfully become the body’s president.

The council president is also first in the line of succession in the event of a mayoral resignation. In 2021, then-Council President Kim Janey stepped in as acting mayor when then-Mayor Marty Walsh joined the Biden administration as labor secretary. 

The position is also viewed as a launching pad for those seeking higher political office. Mayor Michelle Wu and Attorney General Andrea Campbell both held the post before running for their respective positions. 

In the weeks since the election, multiple candidates have emerged to jockey for the presidency alongside their other council members. In the past, frontrunners have announced that they secured the necessary votes from their colleagues to take the position ahead of the formal vote.

Less than 24 hours after polls closed, City Councilor At-Large Julia Mejia declared her candidacy for the council presidency via social media. 

Then, last week, on Nov. 10, District 1 City Councilor Gabriela Coletta Zapata announced in a statement that she had informally received a majority of her colleagues’ votes to lead the body next term. 

“The strength of this Council lies in our ability to respect one another, even when we disagree, and to work together with purpose and integrity,” her statement read. “I’m honored to have earned the respect and support of my colleagues on the Council, and I look forward to the work ahead to build an equitable, vibrant, and just Boston for everyone.” 

Her response echoed the approach taken by current Council President Louijeune, who, two days after the 2023 municipal election, announced she had secured enough votes to lead the body in a Boston Globe interview. 

For Mejia, however, she felt this kind of electoral process neglected necessary deliberation and transparency. 

“For me, the outcome is not just about winning the candidacy, but how we go about getting there that matters to me,” Mejia said in an interview with The Beacon.

She said the council may be setting a problematic precedent, where only seven councilors are consulted every two years when determining the body’s leader, leaving out the rest. Mejia believes that such a process does not strengthen the relationships between councilors. 

“It is lopsided already, walking in, that a cohort of folks have decided who the next president is going to be without having a full, robust process which allows for folks who may not be aligned to participate,” Mejia said. “You can’t exclude people from the process.”

Mejia said she was not consulted by Coletta Zapata ahead of her announcement. Coletta Zapata did not respond to The Beacon’s request for comment. 

“She called me, I think it was Sunday, [Nov. 9], to tell me officially that she was running, that she had the votes, and that this is what she was thinking,” Mejia said. 

Mejia said a much better process was exhibited in the 2019 and 2021 municipal elections, where public processes took place on the council floor in choosing the body’s leader. In 2019, this resulted in a three-way race between then-Councilors Lydia Edwards, Janey, and Matt O’Malley. In 2021, Mejia described a similar three-way race between Councilors Ricardo Arroyo, Kenzie Bok, and Ed Flynn, which took place before the public in council chambers.

If elected council president, Mejia said she would introduce more opportunities for co-governance between the council and the residents of Boston to allow for more public input on policies brought forth by councilors. She would also focus on relationship building between councilors and help the body function as a team with effective communication. 

“There’s a lot of work that we need to do as a body that does not begin with and end with the policies and the things that clash over politically,” Mejia said. 

Whether at the helm of the council or not, she said her priorities will not change. 

“I will always be consistent, regardless of the role I’m playing,” Mejia said. “I don’t need a leadership role to build those relationships.”

Despite Coletta Zapata’s announcement, Mejia declared that she is still in the race. 

“It’s not over until it’s over,” Mejia said.