Elections

September surprise

by Seth Gitell

There may not have been a wave of anti-Finneran fever at the polls on Tuesday, but the life of the House Speaker got a little more complicated on primary day.

Frank Smizik, a veteran of the Brookline School Committee, defeated incumbent representative Ronny Sydney by campaigning against Sydney's cooperative relationship with the Speaker (see "Finneran's Wake," News and Features, September 15). Smizik, who is known to be outspoken and something of a maverick, will join a small, largely progressive faction of House dissidents who have been critical of Finneran's leadership style. (Joseph Early Jr., who had run on a similar anti-Finneran line in the First Worcester Senate district, was less successful; he was beaten by Representative Harriette Chandler in the race to replace Robert Bernstein.)

Smizik is taking a conciliatory tone. "One day I'll meet with the Speaker," he says. "I have nothing personal against him. I'll say I agree with him on some things, and work with him on those, and probably disagree with him on others."

Still, expect Smizik to stick to his guns. "I'm going to stick up for the issues that the people elected me for," he says. "The voters listened. They agreed the House was broken."