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WHITEWASH
NOW passes on Pat, again
BY DAVID S. BERNSTEIN
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When the Greater Boston Chapter of the National Organization for Women announced its local endorsements this week, the list was most notable for who was missing: Patricia White, the only woman in the at-large Boston City Council race considered to have a viable chance of winning one of the four seats. Boston NOW gave nods to incumbent Felix Arroyo and challengers Matt O’Malley and Sam Yoon — and nobody else, even though residents can vote for four candidates. The group e-mailed the endorsements to its roughly 2000 Boston members on Monday. It was a repeat of 2003, when Boston NOW endorsed only Arroyo and Maura Hennigan. White finished fifth, missing a spot on the council by just 861 votes — less than one percent of the ballots cast. This year, with Hennigan running for mayor instead of city council, the snub is even more noticeable. Boston NOW chair Emily Hall says that the problem stemmed from White’s answers about reproductive rights on a NOW candidate questionnaire. While White is pro-choice, apparently she’s not quite pro-choice enough for NOW. "The information we got from her did not convince us that she was fully supportive of all the aspects of reproductive rights that are important to us," says Hall. She declined to specify what those aspects are. "I am disappointed that they would make an endorsement decision without contacting me to discuss it," White says. "I am pro-choice and pro-gay-marriage. I have a long record of advocating on women’s issues." White provided the Phoenix with a list of more than 100 women supporters, including several state officeholders and prominent civic leaders, who will attend a September 13 fundraiser to bolster her campaign.
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