After finishing first and second, respectively, in Somerville’s preliminary mayoral election on Sept. 16, At-large City Councilors Jake Wilson and Willie Burnley Jr. are shifting their focus to differentiating themselves from each other rather than from the incumbent, Mayor Katjana Ballantyne, who finished in third place and will not advance to November’s final election.

Asked by GBH News why Somerville voters should choose him over Wilson, Burnley cited lived experience — specifically, the fact that he’s a renter who’s already been displaced once from Somerville due to an unexpected $400 rent hike. (He found his way back after initially crashing on his mother’s floor in Southern California.)

“I’m the only renter in this race, and like most people in Somerville and most renters, I, too,

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