The two incumbents make strong claims to retain their seats. After 12 years in office, Stephen Murphy has acquired wide knowledge of the city budget and social issues affecting the quality of life in Boston. “I could teach a course to the other seven on municipal finance,’’ says Murphy. Modesty may not be a strong point of the hard-working councilor, but he has backed up his words with strong efforts to weed out abuse in the city’s disability pension system, rein in dangerous dogs, give ex-offenders better chances to find work, and pressure tax-exempt institutions - especially universities - to contribute more to city coffers.

First-term incumbent John Connolly has been a consistent voice for making the city more livable, with strong emphasis on preparing Boston’s schools and workplaces for a green economy. A former teacher, Connolly brims with good ideas about how to reduce truancy and improve the city’s schools. A rookie with a veteran’s eye for politics, Connolly has quickly become a significant citywide asset.

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Councilor Stephen J. Murphy deserves another term at City Hall. Yes, the six-term incumbent has a penchant for such frippery as banning Styrofoam cups from the face of the earth (or at least the Hub of the Universe). But Murphy’s grasp of city finances, his focus on public safety and his interest in making Boston the best it can be is a continuing asset to the Council.

Councilor John Connolly deserves a second term to continue what he’s started. Among other things this ex-teacher sees the wisdom in lifting the cap on charter schools and in reforming the outdated student assignment system that drives up transportation costs, and the Council could use more people who share those views.

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If any candidate could be excused for easing back on the accelerator before Election Day, it would be Boston Councilor at Large John R. Connolly.

Connolly won more votes in the September preliminary than anyone else in the City Council race. He has raised - and spent - three times more money than his closest rival in the eight-way race for four at-large seats.

And he has an infant son, born the day before the preliminary election, as well as an 18-month-old daughter, leaving the candidate with heavy eyelids as he bounces from luncheons to candidate forums.

But Connolly, 36, has barely pulled back, leading many political observers to suggest that the lawyer and former teacher may have his sights on a higher office.

“The race for mayor begins Nov. 3 at 8:05 p.m. for John Connolly and a lot of others,’’ said Michael McCormack, a former city councilor and longtime political observer.

Of course, there have been plenty of previous promising council newcomers whose political careers have gone nowhere.

“I topped the ticket once,’’ said Lawrence S. DiCara, a former City Council president. “When I ran for mayor four years later, I came in a respectable fourth.’’

Connolly, though clearly ambitious, dismisses the talk about his future as meaningless political chatter, acknowledging that he benefited in September from having his name appear first on the preliminary election ballot. He will have no such luck next week, when his name will be sixth on the ballot.

“Every now and then, people come up and say something to me since I topped the ticket,’’ Connolly said. “Nobody ever said this to me before September.’’

The motivation that lights a fire in his belly - and leaves a knot of anxiety in his gullet - is the painful lesson he learned in his first race, when he faded in November after a strong finish in the preliminary.

“I just sit and think about waking up in 2005 in fifth place after everybody told me I was going to be the next city councilor,’’ he said. “And so, I try not to pay attention to any of that stuff.’’

The only other incumbent in the at-large race is Stephen J. Murphy, 52, a law-and-order councilor from Hyde Park first elected in 1997. Murphy and Connolly have had a sometimes bitter rivalry that boiled over in 2007 when Connolly acknowledged that his campaign mailed anonymous fliers suggesting that Murphy has been shopping for another job.

Connolly apologized and now says the flier was the “biggest mistake I’ve made’’ as a politician. Murphy, who finished 4,817 votes behind Connolly in the preliminary election, and who harbors his own mayoral aspirations, declined to speak on the record for this story.

Connolly hails from central casting of Massachusetts politics. His father, Michael J., was secretary of state for 16 years and serves on the Boston Licensing Board. His mother, Lynda M., is chief justice for the state’s district courts. John Connolly’s résumé boasts Roxbury Latin, Harvard College, Boston College Law, two stints as a teacher, and a partnership in a small law firm, which he balances with his City Council post.

The thumbnail biography in Connolly’s stump speech focuses largely on the three years he spent in middle-school classrooms, first at the Nativity Mission Center on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and then at Renaissance Charter Public School in Boston’s theater district. He touts education as his top priority and has pushed for an environmental sciences academy to prepare students for jobs in the green economy. He also proposes that the families of truant children be required to appear in court.

Connolly tells voters that he carries his classroom experience with him each day to City Hall, a refrain he repeated recently at the Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury, at a fried-chicken and green-bean lunch his campaign held for two dozen African-American veterans.

“I’m impressed by his presentation,’’ said Quaco Cloutterbuck, 73, who recognized Connolly from his previous visits to the veterans group. “He’s a father. He went to Harvard College, so he’s got to be bright. And he’s a hard worker.’’

Connolly is raising money at a pace without parallel in this year’s at-large race. Earlier this month, 150 people packed a Louisburg Square mansion, standing in a room with a soaring ceiling and museum-quality art, for a Connolly event.

Connolly fidgeted beneath a crystal chandelier, waiting for the applause to subside, before profusely thanking his hosts, Hilary and Christopher Gabrieli. Chris Gabrieli is a wealthy Democrat and former gubernatorial candidate, who acknowledged later that many in his home that night did not typically attend campaign events for City Council races. But the crowd, dominated by moneyed Beacon Hill neighbors and educators from local charter schools, showed up in force, sipping Chablis and Heineken as the youngest member of the City Council began his pitch.

“Would he be somebody I would support for mayor or some state office?’’ Gabrieli asked. “Absolutely.’’

Colleagues on the City Council describe Connolly as an eager and likable rookie who has carved a green niche for himself as chairman of the Environment and Health committee. Among his most tangible accomplishments, Connolly says, is working with the Menino administration to triple the number of hybrid vehicles that will be purchased by the city. The acquisition of the vehicles has been slowed, however, by the recession.

“I see him sometimes and he looks like he’s gone through a 13-round fight,’’ said John M. Tobin, a district councilor from West Roxbury who worked with Connolly as a young man hawking popcorn and soda at Fenway Park. “But I assume he going to top the ticket again and he’s leaving nothing to chance: what he’s done, the way he raises money. Put him on the list for a wide variety of things.’’

Despite the challenging state of municipal finances in this painful recession — which means that political expansionism will take a back seat to municipal triage — an exceedingly strong field of candidates entered the race.

That is all for the better. If ever there was a time when good ideas — that is, new approaches to old problems — were needed, it is now.

There are eight candidates seeking four citywide Council seats. It is a shame that voters will only get a chance to cast their ballots for half of the field. Most are impressive. And, in this cynical age, all have a refreshing desire to make a difference.

The two incumbents, JOHN CONNOLLY, 36, of West Roxbury, and STEPHEN MURPHY, 52, of Hyde Park, deserve re-election.

Connolly, who is finishing his first two-year term, has turned in the most impressive citywide debut since Lawrence DiCara, now a full-time lawyer, came to the Council in the seemingly ancient era of 1972.

Connolly has staked out three areas as his special turf: making government more accountable, working for a greener and more energy-efficient city, and — most noteworthy — tackling issues related to education, especially truancy, which drives Boston’s unacceptably high dropout rate.

The authority of a city councilor is narrowly prescribed by the city charter. But whoever is elected mayor would do well to endorse many of Connolly’s thoughtful ideas.

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As the Nov. 3 municipal election nears, the frantic pace of the at-large City Council race continues to pick up. Each of the eight remaining candidates is giving up sleep and any notion of free time in order to win one of the four at-large seats. Case in point: incumbent John Connolly, who finished first on Sept. 22, almost 5,000 votes ahead of his colleague, second-place finisher Stephen Murphy, and 22,529 votes ahead of Andrew Kenneally, who took fifth. The frontrunner, like his opponents, is taking nothing for granted and putting down any rumors about a 2013 mayoral bid.

“No,” replied Connolly with laughs when South End News asked if he had given any thought to running for top office in 2013. “No, I learned a long time ago that at-large races are about Nov., not Sept., and the only thing I think about and focus on politically is running hard to Nov. and hopefully getting reelected. That’s all I think about.”

Connolly knows, because in 2005 he finished third in the preliminary election before falling to fifth in the finals. With eight candidates vying for four open seats-and only two incumbents in the mix after all four competed in the 2007 race-reading voters’ minds after the preliminary isn’t easy. Some voters simply voted for their top four, others voted strategically, choosing different candidates than they will in the final, some didn’t vote, some did and won’t in Nov., and others may be swayed from one camp to another. Voters left 132,514 blanks in the at-large race, versus a total of 194,550 votes tallied.

The first-term councilor, who called the South End “a bellwether for the whole city” and “a point of emphasis” for his campaign, took the chance to connect face-to-face with about a dozen prospective voters at a meet-and-greet hosted by Blackstone/Franklin Square Neighborhood Association president Andrew Parthum at his Washington Street home on Thursday night, Sept. 24.

“Things change very quickly in at-large races, particularly with the multiple votes. I don’t take anything for granted. I need your vote, one of your four votes. I don’t have to be your first choice, I will gladly be your second choice; I don’t have to be your second, I’ll gladly be your third choice; and I don’t have to be your third either, but I have to be your fourth. If I’m not in the top four, I hope that you will stay home on Election Day,” Connolly told the group to laughs.

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“John Connolly,’’ said City Council candidate John Connolly, extending his hand toward Lennett, 83. “Hope you’ll consider me in November.’’

Lennett nodded that she would, and Connolly bounded back toward the parade route. She had never heard of him, but he seemed nice enough. If a bit of a sideshow from the true spectacle - the dazzling array of whirling dancers, bagpipers, and colorful floats winding through Roslindale Village.

Such was the split-screen feel along the parade route, as the most intense political season in recent memory intersected with a treasured neighborhood event. For a few hours, the campaign trail and parade route merged into one, drawing scads of hand-shaking candidates and armies of sign-holding volunteers and giving the homey festivities a heavy dose of political jockeying.

The 34th annual parade has long drawn politicians looking to glad-hand the electorate and capitalize on the day’s festivities. But with contested mayoral and city council races, not to mention a sprint for the vacant US Senate seat, this year’s version had a more partisan tone.

“Longer, too,’’ said Jackie Silva, 47, from Hyde Park who had secured a curbside spot well before the parade kicked off at 1 p.m. sharp. “They will all be here today, that’s for sure.’’

As if on cue, Mayor Thomas M. Menino came strolling down the center of the road, waving to the crowds lining both sides of the street. From her lawn chair, Silva briefly waved back. Like usual, she was saving her best waves for the little kids.

“They love it,’’ she said. “They feel so important when everyone’s cheering and waving for them.’’

A bit down the road, just past Edward F. Eagan Square, the Bain family was watching the parade from the sidewalk, having pizza for lunch. Dessert was no problem, as float after float tossed candy curbside. Volunteers for City Council candidate Ayanna Pressleywent one better, giving children well short of voting age their pick of Skittles and Tootsie Rolls.

But this parade was not just floats and Skittles. Even Brianna Bain, 10, recognized some of the political candidates marching by.

“Hey look, there’s Yoon!’’ she said excitedly, as City Councilor Sam Yoonwaved at her.

Nearby was mayoral candidate Michael Flaherty, who veered to the curb to introduce himself to the Bains and ask for their support.

In the Bain family, the Menino-Flaherty race is a dead heat and looks like it will stay that way.

“Same old, same old with Menino,’’ said Stephen Bain, 33. “It’s good to have some competition. I think it’s time for a change.’’

“I think he’s [Menino] been in office so long for a reason,’’ replied his wife, Melissa Bain.

Across the street, Dwain Jackson, 37, watched his three children marvel at a group of pink-shirted dancers cartwheeling down the road, even up a hill. He had noticed all the politicians, but said his kids were too busy taking in all the other sights.

“They just love seeing all the action,’’ he said. “For them, it’s just a good ol’ time.’’

Nearby, volunteers for US Senate candidates Martha Coakley, the state’s attorney general, and Michael Capuano, a Congressman from Somerville, nervously approached strangers to gather signatures. Supporters from city council candidates shared no such reluctance, peppering the audience with pamphlets and fliers. Right behind them were the candidates themselves, quick with a shake and a smile.

“Doug Bennett, running for City Council,’’ said Doug Bennett, smiling broadly at Sandy Schaefer-Ung. Right behind him was his competition, Tito Jackson.

Unfortunately for them, the Boston-raised woman had decamped to the Cape, and was no longer on the city voting rolls. But she would never miss a Rozzie parade.

“Look at this, there’s something for everybody,’’ she said. “It’s all about the community. Just a wonderful event. As you can tell, I love a parade.’’

Back on her new front stoop, Rose Lennett was saying she would consider voting for her new acquaintance, Connolly when the parade again caught her eye.

“Oh, look, here’s a band,’’ she exclaimed. “Jerry, come see the nice band!’’

Her husband, Jerry Lennett, 87, a World War II veteran, shuffled outside to see what the fuss was.

No politician was going to tear him away from the Patriots game. But a Navy brass band, that was worth a look.

But until the bottle bill is reformed we need to keep the pressure on.

John Connolly and James Eldridge

The writers are, respectively, Boston city councilor at large and state senator from Acton.

Dear Friends and Supporters,

I hope that you and your loved ones had a restful, enjoyable Labor Day Weekend. Celebrating Labor Day, and all of the achievements of working women and men in the United States, has a special poignancy this year as so many of our friends and family are struggling in this economy. I hope that we will find the collective resolve to work together to help our neighbors and our neighborhoods through these difficult times.

As my first term on the Boston City Council enters its last four months, I am writing to update you on my efforts to strengthen each neighborhood by working for One Boston – a livable city with great schools, safe streets, a strong local economy, and healthy, sustainable neighborhoods.

During the summer, I convened four hearings in Jamaica Plain, Grove Hall, Back Bay, and Charlestown as Chair of the City Council’s Special Committee on a Livable Boston. These hearings have been focused on listening to you and every resident of Boston about how we can work together to improve quality of life across our City. By bringing the City Council to the neighborhoods, these hearings have enabled the City Council to hear directly from hundreds of residents about their ideas on how to make Boston more livable. If you would like to learn more about the continuing work of the Livable Boston Committee or serve as a Steering Committee member, please e-mail me at john@connollyforboston.com.

Throughout the summer, I have also been focused on my work as Chair of the City Council’s Education Committee. As thousands of children return to our Boston Public Schools this week, I will reconvene a hearing to receive an update from Boston Public Schools and Boston Public Health Commission on the City’s preparedness and plans for dealing with the possible increase in H1N1 flu cases. With the new school year, I am also very excited to continue my favorite part of serving on the City Council, visiting our schools. Throughout my first term, I have made every effort to visit Boston’s schools so that I can see and hear firsthand from parents, students, teachers, and principals about the successes and challenges in working to give our children a world class education. Last week, I had the pleasure to meet with the principal and teachers at the Haynes Early Education Center where the faculty had the highest attendance rate in the City last year.

Finally, in a further effort to keep you informed of my work for One Boston, I am pleased to let you know that the Public Safety and Accountable Government sections of my One Boston platform are now available at www.ConnollyforBoston.com.

As always, thanks for giving me the opportunity to serve in this job that I love.

With best wishes,

John R. Connolly
Boston City Councillor At-Large

CAPTION: Councilor John Connolly, his wife, Meg, and baby Teddy

Connolly, 36, and his wife, Meg Kassakian Connolly, 34, welcomed little Edward “Teddy” Ronan Connolly into the world yesterday at 9:14 p.m. at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. “Win or lose, I’m happy with baby boy Teddy coming on the scene,” said the proud papa. “We were calling him our best early return ever.”

Connolly, who was elected to the council in 2007, and City Council Stephen Murphy were the only incumbents in yesterday’s field of 15 candidates for four at-large seats on the council.

Connolly’s wife was due to give birth yesterday, but when Teddy arrived a tad early Monday night, Connolly e-mailed his campaign staff and volunteers to let them know politics was taking a back seat to fatherhood.

“I said I won’t be out there tomorrow. Got get ’em,” said Connolly, who boasts 200 volunteers working on his behalf.

Connolly did sneak away to vote at St. George Orthodox Church in West Roxbury with his daughter, Clare, 17 months. He said his wife voted last week by absentee ballot. He was hoping to attend his election night party at Robyn’s Bar and Grill in Roslindale, but little Teddy was staying with his mom.

“We like to get people involved early, but Teddy’s a little too young,” Connolly said. “One text someone sent me said, ‘Brilliant campaign strategy.’ You can’t plan these things. Teddy has immpecable timing.”

“This is a two-day whirlwind for me,’’ Connolly said late last night in a phone interview from a campaign party in Roslindale, after leading the field with 35,115 votes. “The early returns were my son Teddy, which was all I needed to make my day. . . . Then to have this happen is the cherry on top.’’

Connolly and fellow incumbent Stephen J. Murphy claimed the top two spots as voters in yesterday’s preliminary election narrowed the field to eight for the general election Nov. 3, when they will choose the four at-large councilors who represent all of Boston.

The others who made the top eight are Ayanna S. Pressley, a key aide to Senator John F. Kerry; Tito Jackson, a job-creation official in Governor Deval Patrick’s administration; Andrew P. Kenneally, a former City Hall and congressional staffer; former Nantucket selectman Doug Bennett; and community organizers Tomas Gonzalez and Felix G. Arroyo.

In one of three contested preliminary races for district councilor, incumbent Chuck Turner easily led a four-candidate field in his bid to retain the seat covering Roxbury and parts of the South End, Fenway, and Dorchester - less than a year after his arrest on federal charges that he accepted a $1,000 bribe from an undercover FBI agent. His case is pending.

In the at-large race, two of the eight finalists are Latino and two are African-American, including one woman, making it the most diverse pool ever in Boston.

The finalists edged a group of contenders that included a former MBTA executive, a classically trained conductor, and a couple of experienced community organizers - an unusually large and experienced pool that contributed to a turnout of more than 81,000 voters yesterday, the highest level the city has seen in years. In 2007, only nine candidates ran for the at-large seats, prompting the city to cancel the preliminary altogether.

Pressley, finishing fourth as a first-time candidate, praised the field for its ethnic and cultural diversity and called it noteworthy “not only in numbers but in skill set.’’

The lone woman in the race, she built on contacts she amassed through Kerry’s links to city, state, and federal officeholders.

“I’m absolutely overwhelmed,’’ she said last night by phone from a celebration in Dorchester. “Overwhelmed and grateful.’’

Arroyo, a community and labor organizer and the son of former at-large councilor Felix D. Arroyo, finished a strong third yesterday, nearly 9,000 votes ahead of Pressley.

Kenneally, who spent 10 years as an aide in Congress and to multiple city councilors before entering the private sector last year as a consultant, placed fifth. Jackson, a Grove Hall native who now serves as director for the information-technology sector in the Massachusetts Office of Business Development, finished sixth.

Bennett, a former Nantucket selectman and onetime Republican candidate for state Senate, placed seventh, just two years after moving to Boston. Bennett’s candidacy was a testament to persistence in a contest that competed for attention with the four-way mayoral race and a high-profile race to fill the Senate seat of Edward M. Kennedy.

Bennett, who launched his campaign nearly a year-and-a-half ago, said he knocked on more than 80,000 doors and distributed more than 3,000 signs. But even he sounded stunned by the results.

“The fact that I was able to grow a base that fast . . . that’s like the biggest story of the night,’’ Bennett said in an interview while en route to the Hong Kong bar downtown to celebrate.

Gonzalez, a former Latino liaison for Mayor Thomas M. Menino and former chief of staff for the city’s Elderly Commission, edged Ego Ezedi for the eighth and final spot. Gonzalez received 10,108 votes. Ezedi, who took a leave from his role as executive director of the Roxbury YMCA to run, collected 9,245 votes.

Hiep Q. Nguyen, a 27-year-old Vietnamese immigrant and certified public accountant, finished 10th.

In other district races, City Councilor Mark S. Ciommo and challenger Alex Selvig emerged from a four-way field in the race to represent Allston-Brighton. In District 1, covering East Boston, the North End, and Charlestown, incumbent Salvatore LaMattina cruised to first in a three-way field, and will face Chris Kulikoski in the final.

Yesterday’s vote capped weeks of campaigning by the large field - walking the neighborhoods, knocking on doors, and working phones and the Internet. The candidates packed into multiple forums around the city, put fliers under windshield wipers on cars parked in key neighborhoods, and touted their endorsements from organized labor and other influential figures.

Connolly, a Harvard-educated former teacher and lawyer, campaigned for a second term under the banner “One Boston’’ - working for safer streets, stronger schools, and greener neighborhoods.

He spent much of the final weeks of the campaign with his BlackBerry at the ready, waiting for the fateful buzz that would signal to him that his wife, Boston College doctoral student Meg Kassakian Connolly, had gone into labor.

On the eve of the election, she gave birth to their second child: Edward Ronan Connolly, weighing 7 pounds, 9 ounces. “Both Mom and Teddy are doing great!’’ he tweeted on his campaign’s Twitter feed, just before midnight.