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[This Just In]

TALKING POLITICS
The name game

BY SETH GITELL

File it under “Too Good To Be True.”

Route 1 cuts a voter-rich swath through the Ninth Congressional District, from West Roxbury into Dedham and Westwood. When drivers pull off of Route 1 to head east on Route 128 toward the other towns in the district — Canton, Milton, and Braintree — they may face road-work sites marked off by Jersey barriers. The word lynch appears in large red letters on every barrier. At first blush, the word seems to be a vote of support — perhaps spray-painted by some staunch road-worker ally — for congressional candidate and South Boston state senator Stephen Lynch. The font on the Jersey barriers even resembles the one used on his campaign signs.

Could the barriers signal strong labor support for Lynch? Support that even extends into the suburban part of the district, which is widely acknowledged as his weakest area? We thought so. Until we made some calls.

Lynch denies any connection to the free advertising on the barriers. And the Massachusetts Highway Department confirms Lynch’s story, saying the barriers belong to the J.H. Lynch Company of Cumberland, Rhode Island, which just happens to be installing fiber-optic cable along Route 128 smack in the middle of the Ninth Congressional District. Contractors routinely put their names on barriers to keep track of them — much as cattle ranchers brand their stock.

But there’s one more coincidence: the head of J.H. Lynch is named Stephen Lynch. No relation, says the senator.

Issue Date: July 12 - 19, 2001