Hey, there! Log in / Register

It's Murphy AND Connolly; Arroyo learns what happens on rainy days

Winner:
Winner: Murphy
Loser:
Loser: Arroyo
Big winner:
Flaherty
Winner:

Guy whose picture I didn't happen to take at the Roslindale Day Parade:
John Connolly

Steve Murphy proved tonight he's the Model T of elected officials: He can get elected to anything as long as it's an at-large seat on the Boston city council. He came in second tonight, giving him one of the four at-large seats on the city council.

Felix Arroyo, meanwhile, proved that, on a rainy day, when not even 14% of registered voters show up, organization DOES matter, as in: If you don't have much of one, you're going to wonder what the hell happened.

And what the hell happened tonight was that John Connolly, who had an incredibly organized get-out-the-vote effort, especially in his home base of Roslindale and West Roxbury, simply got more votes than Arroyo (who came in second two years ago, which led to a brief Arroyo-for-mayor boomlet). If the flap over Connolly's anonymous anti-Murphy mailings had an impact, in the end, it didn't matter (except to possibly give Steve Murphy some sympathy votes).

Of course, above everybody else sits, again, Michael Flaherty. Not really a surprise there, and you know he already has people thinking what colors to use on the "Flaherty for Mayor" signs. The only question is whether he dares to take on Tom Menino in two years or waits until 2013 - when, who knows, maybe he'll be facing Sam Yoon, who also got re-elected tonight.

Of course, the big question is what this all means for actual policy making in Boston. Granted, we have a "weak" city council, which makes it hard for them to actually get anything done, but they do have the power to hold hearings and get to vote on the mayor's budget, so it'll be interesting to read in the GateHouse and college papers what happens (since we obviously can forget about the Globe and Herald writing much of anything about the council).

In other races:

Mark Ciommo beat Gregory Glennon to win the Allston/Brighton district council race by a roughly 60/40 margin (props to Michael Pahre for calling that margin). He takes over for Jerry McDermott, who moved out of town.

In Dorchester, Maureen Feeney easily maintained her position as the only woman on the council, swamping Michael Cote.

Charles Yancey did even better against J.R. Rucker in his Dorchester/Mattapan district.

It was Chuck Turner over Carlos Henriquez in Roxbury in another trouncing.

All other district races were uncontested.

Vote numbers from the city elections department.

Topics: 


Ad:


Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!

Comments

it's not surprising. he has focused on everything but Boston since his election six (?) years ago. instead of monitoring elections in other countries, he should have been monitoring his own campaign.

up
Voting closed 0

As of 10:36 p.m., the editors at boston.com think people are more interested in some whiny Alex Beam column about the Yankees and the results of THE MISSISSIPPI GOVERNOR'S RACE than in an election in the city whose name is in their masthead:

Results, anyone?

Just on the off chance I'm confused by their new layout, I clicked on the News link in the top toolbar, which brought me to:

Bah

Which not only doesn't have anything from today's election, the headlines from "today's Boston Globe" are actually from Sunday's Boston Globe.

The Herald, by contrast, has posted: City Council shocker: Arroyo out, Connolly in. Yay, David Wedge, who writes:

In a stunning upset, three-term Boston City Councilor at large Felix Arroyo - a staunch progressive and key member of the board's "team unity" - lost his re-election bid tonight as he was edged out by newcomer John Connolly, officials said. ...

The Tab actually declared Arroyo a loser at 9:11.

up
Voting closed 0

Ooh, look! Fitchburg and Brockton results! Still nothing from Boston, but they're getting closer! This is fun, watching the Globe slowly zero in on Boston. My only fear is they zig too much and miss Boston altogether and suddenly wind up on the other side of the ocean reporting on Scottish by-elections.

Bah!

OK, what's especially stupid about the Fitchburg/Brockton story is that when you click on the link, the actual headline is "Minority candidates make presence felt but gain little ground" (in Massachusetts), which might make you think they'd want to put something in about Boston's only Hispanic city councilor losing tonight (or even something about Boston's only Korean-American city councilor winning tonight), but maybe the telegraph line between Boston City Hall and Morrissey Boulevard has been trampled by buffaloes again (pesky critters) and so the Globe has to send somebody up to City Hall on horseback to retrieve the results before they can post anything.

up
Voting closed 0

Just like Boston, Somerville elects four at-large aldermen. Yesterday, the margin between fourth-place finisher Bruce Desmond and fifth-place Tony Lafuente was so close that we're going to have a recount.

This has happened here before. In 1999, a recount and a subsequent court case determined that Bill White had finished fourth, one vote ahead of Desmond.

up
Voting closed 0

How the hell does Chuck Turner keep getting elected? That piece of shit should have been thrown out on his ear after his disgusting smear of US troops during the fake rape scandal the Globe printed.

He's a sorry excuse for a human.

up
Voting closed 0

Joe Keohane notes another Steve Murphy slurp job by Howie Carr (whom he predicts will develop a sudden interest in the city council since a) He's got slurpy Steve Murphy and b) He hates John Connolly and Connolly's old man). Keohane also wonders how the Globe came up with the phrase a tide of apathy, because, well, apathy doesn't seem to come in tides.

David Bernstein analyzes the death of Team Unity (with Arroyo gone, Chuck Turner loses the ally that kept him, Yancey and Yoon together and now Yoon could defect to the otherwise non-minority Young Turks), explains why the Young Turks are really what New Boston is all about, even if they are all white (not a Dap in the bunch) and says heavy turnout in West Roxbury can only help John Tobin's efforts one day to run for mayor.

up
Voting closed 0

"-It would be easy to lament what looks like a backsliding in city politics to the old days of white Irish and Italian men"

up
Voting closed 0