Davis-Mullen isn’t giving up the fight for other municipal employees’ support either. In a clear jab at Menino’s leadership style, she says, “You’ve got to remember people. As mayor, you’re doing policy, putting the theory in motion. You’re not in the classroom, cleaning the parks, fighting the fires, or policing the streets. You can’t forget people and you can’t bully or intimidate them.” They’ll only support Menino “if they’ve been satisfied with their treatment,” she says. “Or do they want four more years of the same treatment? They know who’s been sympathetic to them, and I have been — every year, not just election years.” With her track record of union support, she’s clearly hoping that some of the city’s 18,000 municipal employees will turn her way.
She’s also counting on gay men and lesbians to vote for her. “She’s worked really hard to get the support of the gay community, and I think that gay people notice that and appreciate it,” says Michelle LaPointe of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Political Alliance of Massachusetts. Davis-Mullen genuinely seems to live out her commitment to equal rights. At last week’s council meeting, councilors passed a resolution honoring Michele Gillen — the sister of Davis-Mullen’s legislative coordinator, Kate Gillen — for her upcoming induction into the Thayer Academy Hall of Fame for her athletic achievements. Davis-Mullen made a point of acknowledging the honoree’s partner, Julie, and including her in a photo with council members. She was a key supporter of the city council’s 1996 decision to support domestic-partnership benefits for the partners of city employees, which has been controversial in conservative neighborhoods like South Boston, where she grew up and lived until she moved to West Roxbury a year ago. “That vote was a risky thing to do given the history of South Boston and the gay community, some of the tensions that arose around the parade [i.e., whether a gay organization should be allowed to march in the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day parade],” says former Alliance chair Sean Cahill. “Some people said loudly that giving domestic partnership to city workers was giving special rights to the gays. She rejected that argument and stood with us at a pivotal time.”
Her campaign is counting on support from Southie, however: “She was born and bred in South Boston and has a strong base there,” says Karen Scharma, a consultant working on her campaign. Her poll showed she had strong favorability ratings among Irish voters (who are prevalent in Southie). But as a result of the gay issue and a host of smaller controversies (including a bus stop that may or may not have been moved because it was in front of her house), she’s not universally beloved in the neighborhood. You’d think South Boston councilor Jimmy Kelly — whom Davis-Mullen consistently backed during his tenure as council president — would relish the opportunity to discuss the mayoral race, as he frequently lambastes Menino in the press. But he said through an aide that he wouldn’t comment.
Yet as Kelly’s distaste makes clear, Menino has his own problems in the neighborhood. “Menino’s popularity is not that high in South Boston,” says Vierbickas, the South Boston activist. A 1998 waterfront linkage deal, which would have pumped up to $65 million dollars into the neighborhood and which Menino deep-sixed after feeling political pressure from other communities last year, is still a sore spot. “That was a deal that obviously benefited the people of South Boston,” says Vierbickas, “and that package was reneged upon, so there’s a certain amount of mistrust for the mayor. He went back on his word.” South Boston voters’ anger at Menino may be stronger than their discomfort with Davis-Mullen.
Davis-Mullen says she’s also relying on a base in West Roxbury, her adopted home and another high-turnout neighborhood. But she may have difficulties — her 1999 vote totals there lagged behind those of four other candidates (Mickey Roache, Stephen Murphy, Dapper O’Neil, and Greg Timilty). To be fair, she didn’t move to the neighborhood until after the 1999 election and may garner more support this time. She’s popular among the students and yuppies of the Fenway, Back Bay, and Beacon Hill, where she finished first in the council race two years ago. She also topped the ticket in Jamaica Plain and Roslindale, and can build on that.
Former councilor DiCara speculates that the mayor will carry Roxbury this year, however: “I would tend to think the mayor would do very well in minority communities. Incumbent mayors always do.” He also believes Menino will win his home neighborhood of Hyde Park and the traditionally Italian East Boston (in the 1999 council race, Davis-Mullen finished fourth and third, respectively, in those wards). But her polls show Menino might be somewhat vulnerable, since Italian voters gave her a 60 percent favorability rating — pretty high given that Menino is the city’s first Italian-American mayor. In fact, she topped the 1999 council ticket in the North End.
But even with targeted outreach, turning out enough voters to win will still be difficult. “If I were advising Peggy,” says former councilor Nucci, “I’d ask what precinct in the city you think you could win — not ward. Precinct. I can’t think of one.”
NOT ENOUGH money. Not enough time. Not popular enough. There are plenty of reasons Peggy Davis-Mullen is unlikely to win the mayoral race. But she’s hit upon something important: the need to jolt an undemocratic status quo that would allow the leader of a city of 600,000 to go unchallenged for two consecutive elections, and the importance of arguing thoughtfully about the direction Boston should take in the next five, 10, or 100 years. If Davis-Mullen is serious about the race — and willing to work the grassroots, cozy up to the donors, and befriend the media — she could have a chance.
Dorie Clark can be reached at dclark[a]phx.com.
