"Boston mayoral hopefuls lean hard on neighborhoods; Candidates in the city’s mayoral free-for-all work their enclaves in hopes of eking out a win" by Andrew Ryan | Globe Staff, July 28, 2013
Boston’s local power bases and history of tribal politics will be tested this September as 12 candidates compete in the first wide-open mayor’s race in a generation. Most campaigns believe the electorate may be so splintered that roughly 25,000 votes — the equivalent of the population of the Cape Cod town of Yarmouth — could be enough to win one of two spots in November’s final election.
The fight for so few votes can make the election feel small, like a tug-of-war over friends and neighbors instead of a citywide debate about big ideas. Some campaigns have pushed broader issues. Bill Walczak stood on a rainy beach last week to promote his environmental blueprint. City Councilor John R. Connolly has made his plan for schools the cornerstone of his campaign. Much of the focus has been not only on fund-raising and building armies of volunteers, but campaigning door-to-door in an effort by candidates to hold their geographic base.
That’s because the race is almost like a contest to be king of a village, not mayor of a big city. Boston remains a patchwork of neighborhoods stitched together after centuries of annexations....
What?
In this election, many of the candidates have long been kings — or queens — of their own villages, cultivating support in their neighborhoods. Voters have known some candidates as their local city councilors or state representatives. Other mayoral hopefuls have built lasting ties to residents by leading community nonprofits.
As Jack Beatty, author of the Mayor James Michael Curley biography “The Rascal King” and a forthcoming book with Mayor Thomas M. Menino, suggests, not all villages are equal when it comes to votes. For some candidates, geography offers an advantage: Their neighbors historically cast ballots at high numbers.
For example, City Councilor Rob Consalvo’s power base in Hyde Park is part of a City Council district that includes more than 6,100 super voters — so dubbed because they have cast ballots in the last three mayoral elections. Michael P. Ross and Charles C. Yancey, two other councilors running for mayor, represent districts with roughly as many residents — but with many fewer who vote in municipal elections....
Ross’s campaign advisers acknowledge they must energize people who vote in national and state races but skip city elections. They are also trying to push beyond geography to capture support from young professionals, empty nesters moving to the city, and other voters looking for someone different....
Boston has 390,000 registered voters, but many skip municipal elections. In the last half century, there have been four open races for mayor. Turnout in those hotly contested preliminary elections averaged just 50 percent.
In this race with a dozen candidates, even home neighborhoods could be splintered....
Of all the candidates, Charlotte Golar Richie has perhaps the greatest opportunity to broaden her base. She is the only woman running for mayor. In Boston, 57 percent of voters in the last three mayoral elections were women.
“The one difference between her and anyone else is her village is citywide in one demographic and its makes up [almost] 60 percent of the electorate,” said Golar Richie’s campaign manager, James McGee.
In West Roxbury a few blocks from Connolly’s home, the fact that Golar Richie is a woman mattered to Sandra Cummings.
She is leaning toward Connolly because she likes his focus on education, but Cummings said she wanted to learn more about Golar Richie.
“We have a very diverse city, and I think that is a good reason to consider a woman or a minority candidate,” the 66-year-old Cummings said. “Part of me feels like I’ve seen enough white Irish guys be mayor of Boston.”
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Related: Candidates try to stand out
And who has?
"Crimes have put Daniel Conley in limelight; Flow of dramatic news coincides with mayoral bid" by Stephanie Ebbert | Globe Staff, July 28, 2013
Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley has occupied center stage in some of the summer’s most prominent crime dramas, elevating his public profile at a time when he’s running for mayor of Boston and trying to break away from a pack of 12 candidates.
However grim and unsettling the news, political observers say, the publicity can’t hurt.
“In a crowded field and as the days are getting shorter, with everybody trying to get some attention, it’s an advantage,” said Paul Watanabe, chairman of the Department of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts Boston. “They’re all trying to break through.”
Other candidates are working valiantly to draw attention to their campaign pledges and public safety initiatives.....
Conley was already the best-funded candidate and one of the first to pay for TV ads in the race to the Sept. 24 preliminary election. And in recent months, he can’t seem to get out of the news.
Related:
"Leslie Moonves, chief executive of CBS Corp., which owns 29 stations, said last year, “Super PACs may be bad for America, but they’re very good for CBS.” Next year’s midterm elections will be a boon to stations, as well, and “2016 could be amazing,” said Mark Fratrik, chief economist for BIA/Kelsey, a media consultancy."
Now all the s***-fooley political coverage makes $en$e.
In April, just two weeks after he entered the race for mayor, the Boston Marathon bombs exploded and Conley was among the political and law enforcement authorities who gathered to announce developments in the investigation.
Last week, when the body of a young woman was found in Hyde Park after a shocking kidnapping and murder, Conley was at the crime scene gathering information from investigators. Though he declined to comment, he offered to let the TV cameras capture footage of him that would help fill the empty hours before he and other law enforcement officials held their press conference.
Conley could even find himself involved in some high-profile cases that happened elsewhere — or years earlier. Though former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez is facing murder charges in Bristol County, the Globe has reported that Suffolk prosecutors are also making a case to a grand jury that he should be charged in a separate double murder in Boston in 2012.
Conley’s office also may have to confront requests about whether to bring charges against Patrick Nee, who’s been implicated in murders by witnesses in the ongoing murder trial of South Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger.
As if there weren’t enough crime news surfacing, Conley dug up one nearly 50 years old: He announced that investigators would exhume the body of DeSalvo and use DNA to confirm his jailhouse confession as the Boston Strangler, at least in the case of the final victim.
See: Slow Saturday Special: Choked Up by Strangler Story
Looks like the perfect candidate to look after your civil rights.
But Conley spokesman Jake Wark said the new inquiry into the DeSalvo evidence began with the Boston Police crime lab and had been underway since late last year. It was also handled in cooperation with the attorney general and State Police.
Wark suggested that the flurry of high-profile cases was nothing new for the district attorney ‘s office, which prosecutes 40,000 cases a year.
“This is the big city,” Wark said. “Every day is a busy day.”
*************************
Prosecutors who run for other political offices often face intense scrutiny for what they haven’t done — for lost opportunities, failed prosecutions, or investigations gone awry. The same high-profile cases that make a law enforcement candidate look like a white knight cast a dimmer glow if the cases go unsolved — a prospect that could pose a problem for Conley.
It won't effect the primary or election in a few months.
Last week’s seemingly random attack on 24-year-old Amy Lord — who police say was kidnapped outside her South Boston home and forced to withdraw money from ATMs before she was killed — has shaken the neighborhood where she lived.
Related: Amy Lord is remembered in churches and at vigils
"Southie Strong!"
Also see: Bulger's Ghost Haunts South Boston
And the intense focus on the crime is already prompting secondary criticism about whether law enforcement authorities pay enough attention to victims of less sensational, everyday violence.
Though Lord’s murder “hit home” for Charlotte Golar Richie, a mayoral candidate and the mother of two daughters close in age to Lord, she said: “I want to see the same high-level visibility, sense of urgency, and unity of purpose in solving cases and supporting families who have lost loved ones to violence in every neighborhood. And I’m going to work toward that as mayor.”
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Related:
"Boston mayoral candidate Charlotte Golar Richie, one of the dozen in the running to become Boston’s next mayor, organized the forum after the controversial George Zimmerman not-guilty verdict, which prompted protests across the country and renewed national discussions of racial profiling. Golar Richie, the lone woman in the race, is a former executive for YouthBuild USA, an organization that focuses on providing education and job training to at-risk teens and young adults."
UPDATES:
"Golar Richie is one of 12 candidates running to succeed Mayor Thomas M. Menino, who is not seeking a sixth term. She is the only woman in the race, and Golar Richie made light of what might distinguish her from the crowded field. “I guess I can say I’m the tallest candidate,” Golar Richie said. “And I can also say I’m the only one wearing a skirt.” Richie served in the Legislature for five years and in Menino’s administration as director of the Department of Neighborhood Development. She managed a 200-person city department with a $100 million budget. She also worked for Governor Deval Patrick and at YouthBuild USA, a national nonprofit that builds affordable housing and works with young people who have limited prospects for employment and education. In the first major speech of her campaign, Golar Richie vowed to establish a year-round office of youth affairs and to encourage pedestrian and bike travel. She talked of improving schools by pushing for a clear definition of quality and measurements for performance. Golar Richie talked about crime. As mayor, Golar Richie said, her administration will find ways to use new technology to fight crime and create viable reentry plans for people released from prison.... The Rev. Eugene F. Rivers, cofounder of the Boston TenPoint Coalition, is backing Charlotte Golar Richie."
Women shouldn't be allowed the vote if they are so monolithic they will vote for someone just because she is the only woman, as the Globe implies. The next mayor must be a non-nonsense corporate executive, and the elitist Globe thinks you are so stupid you won't be able to tell the candidates apart. The big issue is going to apparently be schools, although I seem to remember the Lord slaying being the top issue at one point, but now seems to be the casino (which one is that again?).
Related:
"Molly Levitt joins a growing movement of young people — many of them former teachers — using technology to improve education, but from outside the classroom. They bring the wide-eyed enthusiasm they once had for teaching to writing code and designing Web pages. And like the Cambridge resident, many are starting those businesses in Massachusetts, which has become a hub for education technology start-ups."
Message written on Boston Globe blackboard: Get out of the classroom and into the business world, teach!
Yeah, never mind the s***ty condition of the school.
First lesson, kids: find out who stole the money.
I think I found my candidate, which means he's going nowhere.
We all know what decide$ elections here in AmeriKa, right?
"Walsh tops Boston mayoral candidates in July fund-raising" by Stephanie Ebbert | Globe Staff, August 01, 2013
State Representative Martin J. Walsh, a former laborer and union official, far outpaced the other candidates for mayor in fund-raising in July, collecting about $245,000, nearly half of it from labor....
Councilor at Large John R. Connolly raised the second most in July, but even after a robust month of harvesting money from donors, Connolly and Walsh still have substantially less in their campaign accounts than Daniel F. Conley. The Suffolk County district attorney for the past decade, Conley has amassed more than $1.2 million over the years, cash he now has at his disposal in the mayor’s race.
Looks like he will be in the run-off -- unless the 'too-pid Boston voters get confuzed!
Conley’s fund-raising cooled in July, when he raised just $140,180, leaving him third in the monthly totals reported by the campaigns. That was about $100,000 less than he had raised in May or June. Still, his campaign remained bullish....
Twelve candidates are vying in the first open mayoral race in two decades. The two highest vote-getters in the Sept. 24 preliminary election face off in the general election Nov. 5.
Fund-raising is important because it builds campaign infrastructure and amplifies a candidate’s message, as each tries to capitalize on a core constituency, said Paul Watanabe, political science chairman at the University of Massachusetts Boston.
“Large injections of funds from organized interests do make a difference in a crowded field, and that’s what we’re seeing with Marty Walsh,” Watanabe said. “Often one looks at the unions as principally providing person power, and they do put troops on the ground. But they can also provide significant injections of money.”
Conley vs. Walsh?
The finance numbers reflect totals reported by campaign staffs to the Globe. Campaign finances are reported to the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance, but end-of-month numbers had not yet been posted online Wednesday.
Close behind in fund-raising were City Councilor Rob Consalvo, who generated $126,000 in July, according to spokesman Kevin Franck, and Councilor Mike Ross, who raised $123,202 in the month and now has $528,112 on hand, according to his campaign.
“Mike wants to use innovative ideas to solve Boston’s problems, and month after month, people want to invest in that vision,” said spokesman Josh Gee.
Until he launched his campaign, Walsh ran Boston Building Trades, which represents local unions of ironworkers, electricians, and other trade workers. He remains president of Laborers Local 223.
Individuals can donate only $500 to a mayoral campaign. But unions can donate much more — up to $15,500 to a single candidate in a year — in addition to the support of individual members.
Walsh’s big donations include $15,000 from Boston Firefighters Union Local 718, $14,500 from Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts, and $15,000 from the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 4. His haul includes more than $25,000 from unions outside of Massachusetts.
Walsh also received $500 from developer Joseph F. Fallon, the owner of The Fallon Company, who lives in Belmont.
Related: Sunday Globe Special: Fallon's Friend
A powerful backer!
And he picked up support from Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s former spokeswoman, Carole Brennan, now a public affairs consultant, and Thomas N. O’Brien, the former director of the Boston Redevelopment Authority.
Charlotte Golar Richie, a Dorchester Democrat who previously served in the state House of Representatives, collected $66,165 last month, said her campaign finance director, Kristin MacEachern. She expected the tally to grow overnight as final deposits were counted.
“The Charlotte Golar Richie committee is in striking distance of raising $200,000 in less than 90 days,” MacEachern said.
Richie, the only woman in the race, picked up the support of EMILY’s List, a political support group for female candidates, but has not yet shown an uptick in funds.
Bill Walczak, who cofounded the Codman Square Health Center, raised $40,138 in July, boosting his campaign cash on hand to $132,342, spokesman Wyatt Ronan said. But he was enjoying a fund-raising boost following his announcement that he opposes a casino in East Boston, a stance that contrasts with that of most of the field.
John F. Barros, former director of the Dudley Street Neighborhood Initiative, raised $39,578 in July, improving his cash on hand to $83,899, campaign manager Matt Patton said. Barros’s campaign built momentum through two new efforts, Patton said: a crowd-sourcing campaign that raised nearly $12,000 in 10 days via the Internet, and a voter engagement and registration effort at T stops, street corners, barber shops, and soccer fields....
Councilor Felix G. Arroyo saw his fund-raising slip to $26,006 last month. His campaign still had $135,693 in cash on hand....
Three candidates could not be reached for updates on their fund-raising.
However, state campaign finance reports show that as of mid-July, Councilor Charles C. Yancey had $45,247 cash on hand, Charles L. Clemons Jr. had $3,164, and David James Wyatt had $17.
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Related:
"The Globe questionnaire sizes up candidates’ views on a range of issues confronting the city. On only one question did the entire field stray noticeably from the Menino legacy:
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NEXT DAY UPDATES:
Casino issue up front for Boston mayoral candidates
Thomas Menino’s mayoral pick hard to call
