Who Wants To Be... MAYOR!

kingofsheeba said:
And I don't know who mentioned it, but I researched his stance on Marijuana. Frightening. He testified back in 2008 in front of the House against the decriminalization of Marijuana. He said that even though "57% of the people in his district support decriminalization of pot, he would ignore his constituents."
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FenwayResident said:
According to the Globe, Walsh is also against allowing happy hours to return in bars. While it's not a major issue, I think it represents a lack of critical thinking and willingness to change some of Boston's out-dated and backwards-thinking laws.
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He's a recovering alcoholic which I'm sure colors his views on both of these issues.
 
If you don't feel strongly about fixing education in this city then you are simply unqualified to be mayor.

I am also not a fan of either of these candidates. I'm hoping that we have left the era where mayors stay in office for twenty years.
 
What's everyone's thoughts on the 10 eliminated candidates giving endorsements? More specifically, will Ross endorse one of them? Who?
 
Both of the remaining candidates suck. Walsh will probably win, because Connolly is widely hated. Walsh already won the plurality, and will enjoy a sizable anti-Connolly contingent.
 
fattony said:
He's a recovering alcoholic which I'm sure colors his views on both of these issues.
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Right. But, with that said, I know several people who are in recovery, and they are pro-legalization/happy hour for those who choose to drink.
 
Proposition Joe said:
If you don't feel strongly about fixing education in this city then you are simply unqualified to be mayor.

I am also not a fan of either of these candidates. I'm hoping that we have left the era where mayors stay in office for twenty years.
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This. Exactly why I am moving away from Walsh (just a tad). I'll still probably end up voting for him. Unless Connolly impresses me in the next few weeks.

What's everyone's thoughts on the 10 eliminated candidates giving endorsements? More specifically, will Ross endorse one of them? Who?
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Golar-Richie will probably go with Connolly. Barros had an opportunity to step aside early on and that would've carried Golar-Richie, but he didn't, because he's stubborn.

I don't care who Mike Ross endorses, just so long as he uses his running shoes to sprint to the first train out of town.
 
kingofsheeba said:
Barros had an opportunity to step aside early on and that would've carried Golar-Richie, but he didn't, because he's stubborn.
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Pundits kept making this ridiculous claim on NECN's coverage last night. Barros didn't poach all of Golar-Richie's potential voters. Some, maybe, but it is simply ridiculous to make these claims that all the black voters would have just shifted. Quite frankly, I would rather have the split like that because it shows that people are voting for the candidate's platform and not just their skin color. Example: "I want to vote for a black candidate... uh oh... there's two. Well, which platform do I like better?"

I don't care who Mike Ross endorses, just so long as he uses his running shoes to sprint to the first train out of town.
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Why the hate?
 
Matthew said:
Both of the remaining candidates suck. Walsh will probably win, because Connolly is widely hated. Walsh already won the plurality, and will enjoy a sizable anti-Connolly contingent.
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Where does the Connolly hate come from and why (rare honest question in AB)?

I saw nothing impressive from Golar-Richie this campaign and preferred Barros, who actually had a platform to run on. I'm also not understanding the Ross hate.

I'd imagine Connolly, as the "new boston" candidate of the two remaining, will poach primarily from Barros, Ross, and Walzack supporters and that Walsh might get Arroyo and Consalvo supporters? I never got a feeling for Conley/Golar-Richie supporters and could be wrong about the whole thing.

I dread Walsh and what he'll approve/require for development and won't negotiate for municipal contracts as the union candidate (although I don't think he has bad intentions or particularly hate unions).
 
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I don't personally have a deep abiding hatred for Connolly because I don't know him that well, so I can't answer completely. I was turned off by some of his behavior though. He seems slimy and untrustworthy. More so than other politicians. For example, in a forum he claimed that Allston was his favorite neighborhood, and that he took his kids to a park that was, I quote, "across from a bus stop but can't remember the name of." Obvious and sloppy pander. I have never seen Connolly around Allston except when he was fishing for votes. I've seen Arroyo around, I've seen Pressley. I've never seen Connolly or Murphy before election season. I don't understand why anyone from Allston would vote for Connolly.

So when Connolly spouts rhetoric (and he's pretty good at it) I just don't have any reason to believe anything he says. Also he runs around claiming to be a former teacher, when he quit that after a couple of years and became a lawyer at the firm of Schofield, Campbell and Connolly. Yes, that Schofield. And he claims to be a "product of the BPS" when he went to Roxbury Latin. None of this is damning, but do you see why he comes across as disingenuous to many?

I also know a lot of people who do have more experience with Connolly, and absolutely and completely detest him for their own reasons.

What I've been trying to figure out is what his base is. Who are Connolly supporters? Charter school proponents?
 
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I don't want to thread hog so I'll just mention I, like many, are resistant to the claim that something "wrong" happened because a person of color didn't make it to the playoffs and b/c Boston hasn't had a person of color as mayor. On Greater Boston tonight they were listing all the cities across the country that have had POC. Well, yeah, New York City has had one. So they're 100% "better" than we are.

Ayanna Pressley for city council received over 40,000 votes so she doubled what Walsh and Connolly received for mayor. That's a pretty strong endorsement of people's respect for her. And Michele Wu from the South End receive 29,000+ votes and she's a first-time candidate. A Essaibi George is also in the run for citywide city councilor and it was also her first time running. My guess is the first two will make it to the council this fall which means Bostonians are ready and willing to hire POC. Yes, lower level of government but pretty significant since there are so few elected people to begin with (there's mayor, city council, county DA, and state senator and representative ... and that's it?).

My argument why it didn't happen this time is that there were too few "ready for prime time" players in the minority community. Charlotte last ran for office in 1993 (or thereabouts) (beating Althea Garrison!), and then went off to the State House and City Hall, and then gave up government at the turn of the century. She didn't have the name recognition she needed.

I guess parents of school-aged children must have known who John Barros was but being on the Boston Public School Committee isn't a high-profile job I don't think.

Actually, I can't find anything about the school committee on his site. Was he?

He seems to have been active in his community but he would have gone from that level to city-wide recognition to get a chance to make it to the final two and that seems impractical. White Bill Walczak had the same trouble (and earned fewer votes than Barros).

Felix Arroyo did fine for someone I believe to be a mediocre politician and government official. I don't think he's skilled enough (and certainly not old enough, at 34) to run the city. And he talks to casually, really fast, and is hard to understand.

The other three clowns were in the race presumably because they lost bets.
 
Anyone who votes based on the race of the candidate is a racist.
 
For those who like maps:
9959487026_4178e09484_c.jpg
 
JohnAKeith said:
Sorry if this was already posted above but wanted to share. Someone has put together a fantastic spreadsheet of (unofficial) results of the preliminary election. (The city has the data as a PDF on its website ... but it's mostly useless if you want to examine the data in depth.)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkWPTnj-k6-kdGI1emtmQVJkQnpoVnVyMXpZR3dpWkE#gid=0
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Ward/precinct map helps:
http://www.cityofboston.gov/maps/pdfs/ward_and_precincts.pdf


Edit: I went through and colorized the spreadsheet to make the winner more clear.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsPYiuo-Fq7WdGRUSUVRLUU4cno2dmRhalQ2OTRfNXc&usp=sharing
 
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I was curious to see how each area voted, and made a map with that data

ward_and_precincts.jpg
 
Thanks so much for turning those numbers into a map! You should sell this to the news stations.

It's very interesting how Walsh took none of inner Boston except for 1 random area (which I think is near the Garage?). Inner Boston was a mixed sweep by Connolly and Ross.
 
Also confirms that Dorchester is two neighborhoods, not one
 
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