Powered by Google
Home
Listings
Editors' Picks
News
Music
Movies
Food
Life
Arts + Books
Rec Room
Moonsigns
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Personals
Adult Personals
Classifieds
Adult Classifieds
- - - - - - - - - - - -
stuff@night
FNX Radio
Band Guide
MassWeb Printing
- - - - - - - - - - - -
About Us
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Work For Us
Newsletter
RSS Feeds
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Webmaster
Archives



sponsored links
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
PassionShop.com
Sex Toys - Adult  DVDs - Sexy  Lingerie


   
  E-Mail This Article to a Friend

CITY COUNCIL PRELIMINARY ELECTIONS
Boston voters break the mold
BY DEIRDRE FULTON

Plenty of interesting stories emerged from Boston’s preliminary city-council election this past Tuesday, ranging from the unexpectedly strong fifth-place showing by Sam Yoon — who has a real shot at becoming Boston’s first Asian-American city councilor — to the disappointing sixth-place finish by Patricia White. But here’s the meta-story: the conventional wisdom about preliminary elections in Boston may be obsolete.

Preliminaries are supposed to bring out a rarified slice of the electorate — i.e., elderly voters and city employees — and allegedly favor more conservative candidates. This pattern held two years ago, with progressive favorite Felix Arroyo finishing fifth in the at-large race (he later placed second in the final) and the more moderate White, the daughter of former mayor Kevin White, finishing third (she later dropped to fifth).

But things were different this time around. Arroyo finished in second place Tuesday, just 2200 votes behind perennial at-large winner council president Michael Flaherty. Meanwhile, centrist incumbent Steve Murphy placed fourth, one spot behind challenger John Connolly, whose own centrism has a New Boston sheen. And Yoon fared better than both White and Ed Flynn, who is aggressively conservative on social issues and who, like White, happens to be the child of an ex-mayor.

Why the change? Until precinct-by-precinct results are available, it’s impossible to say. Maybe some of the progressives and voters of color who stayed home in the past are now taking their place at the polls, alongside municipal workers and blue-haired retirees. Maybe the same die-hard voters who once favored conservative candidates have shifted left. Or maybe it’s some combination of the two. But whatever’s driving this change, the days when liberal city-council candidates entered the campaign home stretch a step or two behind might be gone for good.

Yoon’s boon

Until this week, it was hard to know exactly what to make of Sam Yoon. Was he a viable candidate for one of the Boston City Council’s four at-large seats? Or a trailblazing figure pointing the way to Asian-American political empowerment?

Turns out he’s both. Yoon’s fifth-place finish in Tuesday’s at-large preliminary election showed that the Princeton graduate is, in fact, a serious contender heading into November’s general election. A win on November 8, which would make him Boston’s first Asian-American elected official, is hardly a sure thing: several candidates came close to Yoon in the final preliminary tally, and he’ll have to run a great campaign over the next six weeks to win. But the same is true of his opponents.

At Yoon’s election-night party, at the Blarney Stone in Fields Corner, the candidate’s supporters seemed genuinely stunned by the victory. A little after 9 pm — faced with discouraging early returns — Jack Kowalski, the ubiquitous Dorchester political operative and Yoon spokesman, struck a somewhat grim note. "At this point, Sam’s definitely in the pack," Kowalski told me. "We’re not optimistic; we’re realistic." But as more precinct totals poured in, it became clear that these early returns had been misleading. Yoon wasn’t just in the pack; he was fighting Patricia White — a better-known, better-financed, more experienced candidate — for fifth place.

When word began circulating that Yoon had, in fact, nailed down that position, his backers couldn’t contain their glee. "It’s amazing," Jim Spencer, Yoon’s political consultant, exclaimed as he stood on Dorchester Avenue waiting for the man of the hour to materialize. Behind Spencer, Vincent Baker, a campaign volunteer, insisted that Yoon’s stump called to mind another ethnically groundbreaking Bay State politician. "It’s like watching a young JFK, when he was running for state rep in the ’40s," Baker said. I’m serious! These old Asian men and women see him, and they’re so happy — it’s like, ‘Oh, thank God! It’s about time.’"

When Yoon finally arrived and began to address the crowd he looked elated. But the speech he gave was modest in tone. "I’ve got a lot of people to thank," Yoon began. "I’m a Christian, so I’m going to start at the top — I thank God." Later, as Yoon circled the room saying his thank-yous, he paused long enough to admit being somewhat startled himself. "Am I surprised? Yeah. Because what we’re doing is so new."

By Adam Reilly

The fate of the Irish

Within a 10-mile radius of West Roxbury and Roslindale on Tuesday night, three young, Irish Catholic city-council candidates met with varying degrees of preliminary-election success. Because the three incumbents are likely to keep their seats and Sam Yoon is running an exceptionally strong campaign, only one — if that — will make it into the four at-large seats this November. So, by the time the results came in, John Connolly, Patricia White, and Matt O’Malley were already looking forward to the next step.

"We’ve seen these elections before," Connolly told the crowd. "We need to work so hard. You’ve given me so much — I need more."

The 32-year-old first-time candidate was at once victorious and incredulous at the Sons of Italy Hall in Roslindale Square, first pumping his fist in the air, then marveling out loud at his third-place finish behind council president Michael Flaherty, and popular Latino councilor Felix Arroyo. His preliminary-election party, attended by several state and local political figures, much like his well-oiled campaign, was somehow both slick and earnest.

Meanwhile, sixth-place finisher Patricia White — who was in Connolly’s position as a first-time candidate in 2003 (warning to Connolly: she slipped to fifth place in the general election) — remained reserved, speaking with the guarded optimism of a veteran as she mingled with a smaller group at the West Roxbury Pub. And down Centre Street at the Corrib Pub, progressive candidate Matt O’Malley seemed determined to defy the odds of his seventh-place position to break into the top four in the general election.

That’s going to require money. The Connolly campaign’s fundraising has impressed even the most seasoned political observers: having already raised more than $225,000 this year, Connolly will be able to flood the media zone with mailings and TV spots this fall. With the exception of Flaherty, the other candidates have less cash on hand. Still, with such a large field and predictions of high Election Day turnout, grassroots support could be just as important.

"This race isn’t about collecting political inheritance, it isn’t about raising hundreds of millions of dollars," said O’Malley, 25, a New Bostonian whose supporters hoped that his solid first-time performance in 2003 (and successful coordination of Andrea Cabral’s race for county sheriff last year) would place him close to the top this time around. Instead, he came in close to the bottom, but he didn’t seem too worried. "It’s about shoe leather," he said. "And I’m literally on my fifth pair of shoes."

By hitting the pavement between now and November, O’Malley and his fellow candidates hope not only to heighten their own profiles, but to increase voter turnout in general.

"There’s growth potential," 35-year-old White said. This November, the daughter of former Boston mayor Kevin White will look to minority neighborhoods to boost her numbers. Turnout often increases dramatically in these areas between the preliminary and general election. For White, who claims she is "the strongest non-minority candidate in the minority wards," it could be the push she needs.

Her gender could help too. Women, like minorities, are underrepresented on the city council. In fact, if White loses, only one out of the 13 councilors will be a woman — District Four’s Maureen Feeney (at-large councilor Maura Hennigan is giving up her seat to run for mayor).

While White doesn’t play the gender card too aggressively (she was passed over for a Greater Boston NOW endorsement), it’s clear that she knows its value. In a campaign commercial she ran before the preliminary, she noted her commitment to women’s rights. And on Tuesday night, she stressed that she will be "talking about the importance of having a woman’s voice on the city council."

At least some of White’s potential colleagues seem to support that strategy. Asked why he’s a White supporter, current District Eight councilor Michael Ross offered gender representation as reason number one.

"To have a young mom get on the council," he said, "is exactly the thing we need."


Issue Date: September 30 - October 6, 2005
Back to the News & Features table of contents
  E-Mail This Article to a Friend
 









about the phoenix |  advertising info |  Webmaster |  work for us
Copyright © 2005 Phoenix Media/Communications Group