Murphy says he has enough votes to remain City Council president

By Colin A. Young, Globe Correspondent

City Council President Stephen J. Murphy is expected to retain the council’s top position for a third year after securing the votes of nine of his colleagues, Murphy’s office announced Thursday.

Murphy, a councilor at large who first took office in 1997, has served as council president since he was unanimously elected to the position in January 2011. The council president is not afforded additional power within the council, but in addition to a bigger office and a larger staff, Murphy is the first in the line of succession should Mayor Thomas M. Menino leave office midterm.

“I am humbled by the vote of confidence in my leadership expressed by my colleagues. The coming year will be a difficult one as the City of Boston faces a tough fiscal climate,” Murphy said in a statement. “I believe that through cooperation with my colleagues in government and the Mayor, I will be able to lead the City Council through another successful year.”

In addition to his own vote, Murphy has secured the votes of Councilors Felix Arroyo, Frank Baker, Mark Ciommo, John R. Connolly, Robert Consalvo, Tito Jackson, Salvatore LaMattina, Bill Linehan, and Matt O’Malley, according to Murphy’s office.

A graduate of Boston Latin School and Stonehill College, Murphy worked as a manager and vice president of a transportation company before he landed a job on Beacon Hill in the mid-1980s. He did budget work in the state Senate and attorney general’s office before moving to the secretary of state’s office as assistant personnel director. He ran unsuccessfully for School Committee before winning a spot on the City Council.

Murphy has never been shy about his ambitions for higher office, making unsuccessful bids for state treasurer in 2002 and 2012, and for Suffolk County sheriff in 2004.