Yes, the South End News reports.

Susan Passoni has a new campaign manager, the South End News reports.

Mass Alliance, which represents a passel of unions (including the Boston Teachers Union) and progressive groups, has endorsed Susan Passoni for the 3rd Suffolk state rep's seat:

"Susan Passoni is smart, accomplished, and clearly committed to her community," explained Georgia Hollister Isman, Director of the Mass Alliance. "We know she will be a strong voice for progressive values in the State House. Progressive voters have a clear choice in this race and we hope that they will come together to support Susan’s campaign."

Left Ahead will interview 3rd Suffolk state-rep candidate Susan Passoni on Tuesday, starting at 2:30 p.m. (don't worry, they'll post a copy afterward if you miss it). Mike Ball has the details.

Susan Passoni, who made two tries for a seat on the city council, is running for state rep instead this year.

The South End resident today e-mailed potential supporters that she's in the hunt for the seat given up by former House Speaker Sal DiMasi (complete letter below). She filed papers with the state today to create a campaign committee for the May 19 special primary and June 16 special election in the 3rd Suffolk district.

Passoni joins DiMasi aide Aaron Michlewitz, who announced his candidacy in January. Last week, Lucy Rivera, a former aide to state Sen. Tom Birmingham and U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano, filed campaign papers with the state.

Passoni's letter:

Sco posts an interview with Susan Passoni of the South End, running against Bill Linehan of South Boston in a May 15 special election for city council (whoever wins will have to run again in the fall). Among other things, she calls for increased tax revenue from large commercial landholders and for more money from the city's non-profit landholders:

... So I would argue that if these institutions are going to sit on half our land and collectively are only contributing 1% of our revenue, that we need to get more in return for the services we're providing, whether it's emergency medical, fire, police, snow removal, in some cases trash removal. I would be a proponent of pushing that, and having worked in the corporate world and private sector for 20 years, I'm very accustomed to negotiating and dealing with CEOs and COOs and people of that level. That's effectively what it would be like negotiating with the university. That's something that I would really like to work on, to see if we can have a better balance, to get something in return for the land that they're sitting on.
...

Over in Allston/Brighton, Buckospal explains why he hopes whoever replaces Jerry McDermott this fall will share his enthusiasm for local issues:

... Brighton needs a person who is concerned with the issues impacting Allston and Brighton. We don't need a Menino cheerleader!

Chris Lovett runs the numbers on yesterday's preliminary city-council election in District 2. He notes that the candidate who got the most votes in South Boston (Ed Flynn) won't be in the May final, while Bill Linehan, who will be, was the winner in Chinatown's largest precinct. Linehan will face off against the South End's Susan Passoni. Whoever wins will have to run again in this fall's regular council election.

Adrian Walker hauls out the newcomer cliche column and doesn't say anything new about people like Sam Yoon and Susan Passoni, just that they are new.

Adam explains why he'll be voting for Hennigan, Arroyo, Yoon, Connolly and O'Malley.

The Globe looks at the at-large race as a preliminary for the 2009 mayoral election and at efforts by service unions to get out the vote for minority candidates. The Herald basically says there's an election tomorrow.

A lot of the stuff Hennigan says about cleaning house is pretty much identical to what a new Mayor Menino said in 1993.

Will progressives and minority voters bullet vote for Arroyo and Yoon (to help the former get more votes than Flaherty and the latter get on the council)? Will Maura Hennigan be able to pay off her second mortgage?

Meanwhile, the Globe makes endorsements in district council races - all incumbents except for Susan Passoni in the South End/South Boston.

Above right: Artist's rendition of Felix Arroyo, if Arroyo dressed up as a pirate for Halloween.