Bill Linehan

South End Patch reports Suzanne Lee will formally ask the city elections department to recount votes in District 2, where officials said she lost to incumbent Councilor Bill Linehan by just 87 votes.

(Originally appeared at www.bostonbastard.com. This post reflects the opinion of the Boston Bastard and not that of UHub and Adam G.)

In September, Suzanne Lee had one thing that Bill Linehan didn’t – the element of surprise. No one expected a first-time candidate from Chinatown to give much trouble to an incumbent South Bostonian in “South Boston’s District.”

That all changed when Lee smacked Linehan across the face in the polls, Sept. 27, taking the top spot in the preliminary election.

All of a sudden, what was not expected to be a difficult battle for Linehan, has turned into one of two hotly-contested district races this year.

It remains to be seen how much support Linehan was able to drum up since coming in second, but it’s clear the race would not be a cake walk.

As far as campaign financing goes, both Linehan and Lee reported roughly the same amount of total campaign donations for the year at the time of the election, September 27. But on the Friday following the election, Linehan’s campaign deposited $23,630 in donations.

Linehan didn’t actually report any receipts in the first two weeks of October, but in that time, he did sink $ 17,936.18 into his campaign, predominately in local media advertising.

Incumbent Bill Linehan will share a room with challengers Suzanne Lee and Bob Ferrara on Sept. 13 in a forum sponsored by the Blackstone/Franklin Square Neighborhood Association

Suzanne LeeSuzanne Lee, former principal at the Josiah Quincy School, said today she's running for the District 2 council seat held by Bill Linehan:

I've dedicated my entire adult life to making things better for the community, by bringing people together to solve problems. As City Councilor I aim to bring my passion for activism, my commitment to public education, and my ability to solve problems to make Boston a place where all working families can have affordable housing, decent jobs, and thriving neighborhoods.

Earlier this year, Lee helped organize an effort to restore a branch library to Chinatown.

The daughter of immigrants, Lee grew up in Grove Hall, went to Girl's Latin (now Boston Latin Academy) and became the first person in her family to attend college. She spent 35 years as an educator in the Boston school system.

Lee said she's already raised $24,000 for her bid to unseat Linehan for the right to represent South Boston, the South End and Chinatown.