Felix G. Arroyo* jumped into the Boston mayor’s race today, becoming the eighth candidate in a wide-open field and raising anew the question of whether Boston is ready to elect a candidate of color as mayor.
“My vision of Boston is a Boston where everybody has access to opportunities to succeed — where every child receives a quality education, where we all live in a safe neighborhood, where we invest in every community, and where everybody has a say in the direction of our city,” Arroyo said.
“I am a son of Boston,” Arroyo added, speaking in a voice that seemed to shake with emotion. “I love my city. I love Boston.”
Arroyo’s announcement makes him the first Latino candidate to run for mayor in a city where the busing battles of the 1970s still cast a cultural shadow. In his kickoff speech, Arroyo touted the opportunities his parents found when they moved to Boston as Spanish speakers with little knowledge of English. But during a Q-and-A afterward, Arroyo declined to discuss how race and ethnicity might affect his candidacy, despite repeated promptings from the press.
“I’m sure you guys will talk an awful lot about that,” Arroyo said. “What I can tell you is, I’m awfully proud of who I am and where I come from. I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for that. But the way I win this race is by bringing this message, this vision, of a Boston that moves forward when people work together and when everyone has a say to every neighborhood in this city.”
Arroyo also declined to identify his top issue as a candidate — saying that, given his understanding of politics, the question simply doesn’t make sense.
“If you want good schools, then you need strong neighborhoods — and to have strong neighborhoods, then you have to stand with the working families and the middle class and those who are living in poverty,” Arroyo explained.
“That’s what it’s about," he said. "It’s about understanding that everything is connected, that everyone matters, and that it is by working together, understanding the connectivity of everything, that everything can move forward.”
Arroyo made his announcement at the Downtown Crossing headquarters of SEIU Local 615, where he previously worked as an organizer. His SEIU affiliation could be a major asset in the mayoral campaign, which Arroyo said he’ll win by mobilizing as many volunteers as possible.
There’s reason to think that approach could work. In 2011, Arroyo finished a strong second place in Boston’s at-large city council race, garnering more than 35,000 votes — roughly 2,600 more than John Connolly, who’s also running for mayor.
Arroyo may also benefit from his lineage. His father, Felix B. Arroyo, is a former at-large Boston City Councilor who was once considered a potential mayoral candidate.
Asked today whether he’d discussed his own decision to run for mayor with his father, Arroyo’s response was brief.
“My father,” he said with a smile, “told me to be myself.”
*CORRECTION: This article originally identified Felix G. Arroyo as Felix Arroyo, Jr. While Felix G. Arroyo's father is also named Felix, he has the middle initial D.
