In the final day before the election, the race for the 4th Congressional District seat vacated by Barney Frank has come down to thousands of handshakes and phone calls. Republican Sean Bielat and Democrat Joe Kennedy are traveling from Fall River to Newton.
If they didn’t know the district inside and out before, they do now. Republican Sean Bielat and Democrat Joe Kennedy have been to countless homes, diners, schools, churches and synagogues in the past year. The 4th Congressional District is an area shaped like a curved triangle, a base on the Rhode Island border and a point stretching up into Brookline. But despite the travel, neither candidate will admit to fatigue.
“We've been crisscrossing the district like crazy for the past several days. Just getting out there, trying to do the final push and I think it looks good,” Joe Kennedy said. He has raised nearly 4 million dollars. “Every door counts, every vote counts, every phone call counts. Our staff and our volunteers have just been incredible. They knocked on 32 thousand doors last weekend alone. And the amount of hours that it takes, that goes into the planning and the training, just getting out talking to folks is extraordinarily humbling.”
Blazing a parallel path is Bielat, who recently crossed the million dollar line in his fundraising race.
“We have a lot of volunteers in today. It’s a great day to spend time with them and pay attention and thank them for all they’ve done in the past 10 months. This is a lot of fun, there’s a lot of energy, people are excited, they’re revved up and elections are fun. When you have a competitive election when you have a couple of competitive candidates it’s good for everyone,” Bielat said.
Bielat is voting in Norfolk; Kennedy in Brookline. Then they will venture to the polls, re-tracing many of the same steps they've both taken during this campaign.
