Singling Out The Front-Runner In The Race For Marty Walsh's House Seat

Mike Freedberg blogs about state and city politics at Here And Sphere.

Five Democrats seek nomination to become the next State representative from the Dorchester-based district that Marty Walsh gave up to take office as Boston mayor. Dan Hunt, John O'Toole, Liam Curran, Paul "P.J." McCann, and Gene Gorman have been campaigning for weeks now — Hunt, longer than that — in the coldest winter we've seen in decades, in the snow and often in the dark.

They're "knocking doors," as they put it; "standing out" — sign-holding — at major intersections with as many supporters as can take single-digit temperatures; doing "meet and greets" at local pubs; raising funds at what Dan Hunt calls a "friend-raiser"; and "getting on the phones" to reach the district's "super voters" — those who always vote, including in the district's one Quincy precinct, assuming they know there's an election going on.

Tuesday night the race got even more serious, as all five men spoke and answered questions at the Cedar Grove Civic Association's candidate Forum. Cedar Grove — the part of Neponset that borders Quincy — isn't just another Dorchester neighborhood; in last year's Mayor election, almost 75 percent of the area's voters actually voted, by far the highest percentage in all Boston. No surprise, then, that about 70 people showed up to listen, or that state Rep. Dan Cullinane, from the district across Granite Street, was in the room, as was state Sen. Linda Dorcena-Forry.

For candidates at the very local level, even in a varsity political neighborhood — and Dorchester is super varsity — a candidate forum presents a challenge. You must be ready to speak well, in a voice confidently loud, to give opening and closing remarks not read from notes, and to talk with appreciable knowledge about the major issues. So it was at Cedar Grove.

Gene Gorman, a professor at Emerson College, spoke eloquently and to the point on almost every question asked.

Dan Hunt, generally considered the likeliest to win, spoke with steady confidence about his readiness and with skilled nuance about issues not cookie-cutter simple. Proudly he listed four union endorsements, including the big one: Service Employees International Local 1199, whose work for Marty Walsh is thought by many to have made the difference in last year's mayoral election

Liam Curran looked and sounded the eager, even passionate young attorney that he is, in the city of Boston law department. He has the support of Mayor Walsh's brother and mother — and has made sure everyone knows it — and over and over he cited Marty Walsh's priorities as the agenda he would adhere to. Like Walsh, Curran was a labor union member —Laborers Local 223. This too he made known.

John O'Toole, himself a past president of the Cedar Grove Civic Association, spoke strongly about neighborhood issues and gave a shout out, by name, to many in the room with whom he has worked with on various neighborhood concerns over the past 20 years. O'Toole, too, has labor support, more locals than have endorsed Hunt, but at the forum he named none.

P.J. McCann — speaking in a voice soft and conversational, hard to hear easily in the long, large meeting room — stressed his experience drafting legislation, collaboratively with many agencies, and his work at the city of Boston's Public Health Commission.

I’ve been frustrated trying to pin down any of the five to specifics of major issues facing Massachusetts: transportation funding; education reform and funding; curbing urban violence. Last night, Cedar Grove's President Sean Weir had no better luck. Granted, the first two issues are complex and coated in controversy, and the third issue isn't really a matter of legislation; it would still have been nice to hear what the five will work for by way of funding, and where that funding will come from. You can be sure that the word 'taxes' graced no one's lips all night long.

All five supports raising the minimum wage, and those who addressed the issue of unemployment insurance give-backs said that it was irrelevant to raising the wage. But Speaker Robert DeLeo, who controls all legislation because he appoints all House committee members, says that the two are indeed connected and that minimum wage legislation must connect them; and no one, at the Forum, or in conversations with me, has faced the fact. We are left to assume that each of the five, if elected, will make the district's opinion heard and then vote the speaker's way.

That said, the true importance of this election lies not in legislative specifics, but in the loudness and confidence of the voice that will be the 13th Suffolk's going forward. Can any of these men be a next Marty Walsh, a major voice in labor — or other — issues, a sought-after endorsement in city and state elections, even a potential mayor? Walsh's predecessor, Jim Brett, was that and more. Political clout — not theory or ideology — is the standard District 13 voters use to take the measure of political figures. They are accustomed to having their representative be a center of influence and attention, and they vote in large numbers seeking it. Everybody I speak to expects 4,000 to 6,000 votes to be cast on the March 4 primary day.

Only two of the candidates recognize that the district wants a big decider: Curran and Hunt. Curran loses no opportunity to pronounce himself the most Marty Walsh-like of the field. The mayor's brother and mother support Curran, giving his claim (perhaps) the illusion of truth. Curran, however, may have pushed too hard.

Walsh himself had intended to stay on the sidelines. But Curran’s bid to be considered a surrogate appears to have energized the Mayor to tilt toward Hunt. Indeed, a day after Curran sought a publicity splash of a photograph taken at his campaign kickoff of him with Walsh's kin, Mayor Walsh insisted, at a labor breakfast, on having his photo taken with Hunt.

Hunt doesn't look like Walsh, doesn't sound like Walsh, and has an entirely different personal history from Walsh.

Hunt grew up in a political household — for decades his father, Jim, held administrative positions in city government.

Hunt is clearly proud of his political chops, saying at the forum he was "sign holding even as a six year old.” His profession, Hunt is clear, is government: "a lifetime, so far, of political and state house service, as staff to two committees."

In a nation where some communities are gripped with antigovernment fever, that may seem like an odd boast, but not in old-line Dorchester.

Hunt was confident, commanding, and — to my eyes — had no equal on that score. The endorsement of state Sen. Linda Dorcena Forry suggests that Hunt is indeed a pro and the putative frontrunner in the special election. Dorcena Forry is herself a noteworthy operator. Her ability to marshal support for Walsh in the Haitian community was an important factor in Walsh’s November victory.

While Curran focuses on his Walshness, O'Toole stresses his long history of neighborhood activism, and his solid support among labor, which nevertheless remains divided in this race.

Gorman is impressively policy oriented, but wonks tend to serve as aides rather than win elections in their own rights.

McCann is respected, articulate, a Harvard graduate, and is experienced with legislation that has a public heath angle — a priority vital to city life today. Still, McCann seems more cut out for the collegial City Council rather than the combative State House.

Hunt’s edge in this race is as broad as it is sharp: He began early, raised almost $60,000 before the special election was formally called, has the strongest social media presence.

Hunt also enjoys the support of the cream of the local politicos: former mayoral candidate Bill Walczak, City Clerk Maureen Feeney (a former city councilor), and Suffolk County Supreme Judicial Court Clerk of Court Maura Doyle.