# Julia Mejia

Julia Mejia is an At-Large City Councilor in Boston, Massachusetts. Elected in 2019, Mejia is the first Latina elected to the council.

## Early life and career

Born in the Dominican Republic and raised by a single mother, Mejia came to the United States when she was five years old. She graduated from Dorchester High School and earned a Bachelor of Arts from Mount Ida College.
Mejia worked as a reporter for MTV covering the 2000 U.S. presidential election and an organizer with Massachusetts Charter Public School Association. She is the founder of Collaborative Parent Leadership Action Network (CPLAN).

## Boston City Council
### First term (2020–2021)

Mejia ran for one of four at-large Boston City Council seats in November 2019 in a field of eight candidates. After a recount, she won the fourth seat by one vote. Mejia took office on January 6, 2020, becoming the first immigrant to serve on the council.
In June 2020, Mejia (along with Ricardo Arroyo, Andrea Campbell, Kim Janey, and Michelle Wu) was one of five members of the Boston City Council to vote against Mayor Marty Walsh's 2021 operating budget for the city. Mejia wrote, "I am no longer interested in having drip-drop incremental changes that expect us to continue to hope and pray and wait some more about finally having the type of budget that really reflects the needs our people find themselves in today."
In 2020, the Boston Magazine named Mejia the year's "best city politician", writing that she had, "fought back against racist harassment after taking office in early 2020," and, "also worked to improve bilingual communications in Boston and even made a series of TikTok videos with her daughter to liven up the mood at City Hall during the early days of the [Covid-19] pandemic."

### Second term (2022–2023)

In 2023, a city council attorney filed an internal complaint against Mejia and fellow councilors Ricardo Arroyo and Kendra Lara accusing all three of bullying and lambasting her during an April meeting.
At a City Council meeting early October 2023, Mejia opposed holding vote on a resolution proposed by Ed Flynn which called the attack a "terrorist attack" and expressed solidarity with "Israeli people as well as those innocent Palestinians suffering as a result". Mejia voiced support later in the meeting for an ordinance proposed by Tania Fernandes Anderson related to the Israel–Hamas war. Unlike the other resolution, Fernandes Anderson's resolution was not focused on condemning the 2023 Hamas-led attack on Israel and instead centered on calling for a ceasefire. Fernandes Anderson's resolution met criticism for characterizing the attack as a "military operation" rather than an act of terrorism. With two councilors opposing an immediate vote on the resolution, which had only been introduced during the meeting, it was referred to the committee of the whole instead of being voted on.
Mejia, Ricardo Arroyo and Brian Worrell introduced an ordinance to create an Office of Cultural Affairs in the city. While the city council passed the ordinance in October 2023, leaving it awaiting Mayor Wu's signature or veto.

### Third term (2024–present)

At the January 2024 start of the new city council term, the previous council president Ed Flynn nominated Mejia for the council presidency. However, she declined to seek the presidency and Ruthzee Louijeune was unanimously elected to the position.

## Personal life

Mejia lives with her daughter, Annalise, in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston.

## Electoral history

2019 Boston at-large City Council election :
| Candidate | Primary election | Primary election | General election | General election |
| Candidate | Votes | % | Votes | % |
| Michelle Wu (incumbent) | 26,622 | 19.4 | 41,664 | 20.7 |
| Annissa Essaibi George (incumbent) | 18,993 | 13.8 | 34,109 | 17.0 |
| Michael F. Flaherty (incumbent) | 18,766 | 13.7 | 33,284 | 16.6 |
| Julia Mejia | 10,799 | 7.9 | 22,492 | 11.2 |
| Alejandra St. Guillen | 11,910 | 8.7 | 22,491 | 11.2 |
| Erin Murphy | 9,385 | 6.8 | 16,867 | 8.4 |
| Althea Garrison (incumbent) | 9,720 | 7.1 | 16,189 | 8.1 |
| David Halbert | 6,354 | 4.8 | 13,214 | 6.6 |
| Martin Keogh | 6,246 | 4.5 | | |
| Jeffrey Ross | 5,078 | 3.7 | | |
| Priscilla Flint-Banks | 4,094 | 3.0 | | |
| Domingos DaRosa | 2,840 | 2.1 | | |
| Michel Denis | 2,108 | 1.5 | | |
| William King | 1,809 | 1.3 | | |
| Herb Lozano | 1,510 | 1.10 | | |
| all others | 766 | 0.6 | 704 | 0.4 |
| Total | 137,380 | 100 | 201,014 | 100 |
2021 Boston City Council at-large election :
| Candidate | Primary election | Primary election | General election | General election |
| Candidate | Votes | % | Votes | % |
| Michael F. Flaherty (incumbent) | 41,299 | 15.0 | 62,606 | 17.4 |
| Julia Mejia (incumbent) | 38,765 | 14.1 | 62,058 | 17.3 |
| Ruthzee Louijeune | 33,425 | 12.2 | 54,898 | 15.3 |
| Erin Murphy | 22,835 | 8.3 | 43,076 | 12.0 |
| David Halbert | 16,921 | 6.2 | 42,765 | 11.9 |
| Carla Monteiro | 18,844 | 6.9 | 39,876 | 11.1 |
| Bridget Nee-Walsh | 15,118 | 5.5 | 27,591 | 7.7 |
| Althea Garrison | 16,810 | 6.1 | 25,078 | 7.0 |
| Kelly Bates | 12,735 | 4.6 | | |
| Alexander Gray | 11,263 | 4.1 | | |
| Jon Spillane | 11,155 | 4.1 | | |
| Said Abdikarim | 7,725 | 2.8 | | |
| Domingos DaRosa | 7,139 | 2.6 | | |
| Donnie Palmer Jr. | 6,823 | 2.5 | | |
| Roy Owens Sr. | 5,223 | 1.9 | | |
| James Colimon | 4,671 | 1.7 | | |
| Nick Vance | 3,943 | 1.4 | | |
| Write-ins | 845 | 0.3 | 1,350 | 0.4 |
| Total | 274,694 | 100 | 359,294 | 100 |
2023 Boston at-large City Council election :
| Candidate | Candidate | Votes | % |
| Ruthzee Louijeune (incumbent) | Ruthzee Louijeune (incumbent) | 44,641 | 20.29 |
| Erin Murphy (incumbent) | Erin Murphy (incumbent) | 43,548 | 19.80 |
| Julia Mejia (incumbent) | Julia Mejia (incumbent) | 39,187 | 18.10 |
| Henry Santana | Henry Santana | 34,151 | 15.53 |
| Bridget Nee-Walsh | Bridget Nee-Walsh | 26,775 | 12.17 |
| Shawn Nelson | Shawn Nelson | 10,512 | 4.78 |
| Clifton A. Braithwaite | Clifton A. Braithwaite | 10,299 | 4.68 |
| Catherine Vitale | Catherine Vitale | 8,560 | 3.89 |
| Juwan Skeens write-in | Juwan Skeens write-in | 113 | 0.05 |
| all others | all others | 1,549 | 0.70 |
| Total votes | Total votes | 219,965 | 100 |