Link. Mackey gave concession at Orleans restaurant.
I’m looking around for confirmation — anyone hear anything?
UPDATE: Somerville News also says high voter turnout. Maybe it was the progressive elves working for Jehlen… or just good solid work all around, on a lousy weather day.
Dan Cence, Communications Director for Joseph K. Mackey’s campaign,said that as of 2 p.m. there had been 9,440 votes cast in the race forthe 2nd Middlesex state Senate seat.
Earlier this week, the estimable sco wrote:
Last year the late Senator Shannon ran unopposed in the primary and11,840 people in his district turned out. If that many show up onTuesday, it would be heavier turnout than I’d expect.
Looks like that’s what happened. Although I find it strange that a four-way race wouldn’t get a lot more than an unopposed primary, even under peculiar circumstances and not-so-great weather.
Will post final numbers when I see them.
So… What Does It All Mean?
UPDATE II: All right, here’s my null hypothesis: After Sciortino’s victory and Schofield’s near-miss, this shows that a nouveau-"progressive" movement, awakened by Howard Dean (who was, after all, awakened by the horror of the Bush era) and matured during the ’04 national elections, now has tipping-point electoral-organizational critical-mass in the greater Boston area. In other words, Pat got her "progressive" ducks in a row early, who quacked merrily on to victory. Is that nuts?</McLaughlin>
UPDATE III: esteemed commenter Ron Newman posts thusly:
—
The following are unofficial totals now being displayed on Somerville City Cable channel 16:
District-wide:
Jehlen – 7117
Mackey – 4984
Callahan – 4122
Casey – 2457
Somerville only:
Jehlen – 4190
Mackey – 3109
Callahan – 570
Casey – 278
It means of course that Bill White is the next senator from 2nd Middlesex.
I’m still alive. Barely
Jet’s get the chant going.Biillll White, Billll White, Billlll White, Billl White, Billllll White, Billlll White.He da man.
Ahhhh Now I can sleep tonight knowing Bill White is somewhere out there fighting for me.
turnout was 17000 and Jehlen kicked everyones ass.Except Bill WhiteMy man!
Pat’s victory was announced at her party at Anthony’s function hall at 9:05 pm, little over an hour after the polls closed.Joe Mackey came to Pat’s party and gave a very gracious and well-received speech supporting Pat.
OK, I’ve got to tell you all that this is VERY BIG NEWS for me. A few months ago, I started my own political action committee. I was tired of the fact that people I cared about had so much trouble raising money. I’ve raised a couple thousand from friends all over the country who are willing to humor me.At Leo Maley’s suggestion, I looked at the State Senate special election. After due consideration, I decided to support Pat Jehlen. Later posts will talk about the ups and downs of this decision.Somewhere in my heart of hearts, I believed, wisely or no, that the results of this first foray would be a harbinger about the wisdom of doing this.To say that I’m VERY HAPPY is an understatement. I’m looking forward to telling all my donors that we WON!
Charlie Shannon was unopposed inhis primary, but a lot of people turned out for other primaries in his Senate district on the same day — most notably, the Ciampa-Sciortino fight.
Not so fast my dear Margie. Does not the name Bill White strike a chord with you. No, not the former New York Yankee Bill White. The republican senate candidate Bill White. If I were you I would just tell your donors you got by tound one.
my rule of thumb on turnout is 5000 voters per rep district per average primary day. The go from there more or less.
As much as I like Bill White (and expect to vote for him for Alderman-at-Large in November), there is no way he can put together a campaign in four weeks to beat Pat Jehlen. I’m not convinced he’s even going to try.
The following are unofficial totals now being displayed on Somerville City Cable channel 16:District-wide:Jehlen – 7117Mackey – 4984Callahan – 4122Casey – 2457Somerville only:Jehlen – 4190Mackey – 3109Callahan – 570Casey – 278
Wow. Surprising showing for Callahan, although I guess he had some organization … and fire trucks, I hear — though not city trucks.How do you just up and rent a fire truck? Can kids get one for the prom?
I agree, with your initial analysis, Charley. I just posted over at my blog that there were three winners of this primary: Pat Jehlen, the organized progressive democratic movement in the state; and the political bloggers — especially BLG — that helped stimulate interest in a special election in the dog days of August. The political community will certainly take note.
ooops! BMG
Any chance that Mackey becomes a candidate to replace Jehlen if she wins the seat?Or are there any other obvious contenders for the state rep seat?
Ha! Fred, you’re a good guy to come over here with some bloggy sweet talk. :)I don’t know if we at BMG had much effect on the outcome, frankly. I think, as I said above, that Jehlen and friends were able to out-fundraise, out-message and out-organize the others.If anything, I think folks who came here might have been more willing to give Mackey a second look, rather than assume that Pat was the only prog choice. And of course, the Globe and other endorsements helped him as well. So maybe that helped boost overall turnout.
Now this is no time to get all humble on us Charley. You guys rocked on your coverage of this race. (even if you did go wishywashy on making a choice!).Competetive primaries help with voter interest and thus turnout. Media coverage of the candidates, the campaign, and so on, helps too. The MA blogosphere is playing a growing role. The first press release I got as a blogger was from Pat Jehlen’s campaign — you too as I recall. Polititians are noticing. We are helping make politics interesting. We also call the MSM on thier shit;-)
“We are helping make politics interesting.”Well, speaking for myself, that’s definitely true.
I made the decision to endorse Pat Jehlen for a number of reasons. I canvassed on multiple occasions for Pat and staffed a phone bank for her. I volunteered all day on primary day. I urge people to get out there and volunteer. Special elections offer an opportunity to work in a variety of campaigns. Today I volunteered in an urban area in a campaign that relied heavily on door knocking. My home environment is a very suburban. One can read about variuous strategies, but one learns a lot, being out there in the trenches, working the same turf all day. Even in one day, you can develop a relationship with the voters in the district. I drove a couple to the polls at noon. During my 7 PM pass, their son still had not voted. Because I had a rapport with them, I was able to ask them to call their son at work and remind him that he needed to vote before 8 PM. The point I am tryng to make, is get out there and get involved. If not to support a candidate you believe in, then do it to develop your campaign skills.
Charley, If there is a “nouveau ‘progressive’ movement” in Massachusetts, I would suggest that is was awakened by Robert Reich’s campaign, not Howard Dean’s.Peter
Joe Mackey told the Boston Globe he was done with politics. So, who’s going to be the first to declare for Pat Jehlen’s House seat?
Another big winner last night: Carl Sciortino. The right-wingers in Medford who still can’t believe he won and want to take him down next year just got a reminder of the type of following he and Pat Jehlen have in their districts and can mobilize for an election. “He’s gay” and “I’ve lived here longer” isn’t going to be enough to beat him, not with the good work he’s been doing as rep., and will probably make his voters all the more likely to come out.
Based on what I heard at last night’s victory party, I expect Alderman Denise Provost to run for Pat’s House seat. I’m sure there will be others.I too wondered whether Joe Mackey would run, but his remarks in today’s Globe seem to rule that out.And yes, the Reich campaign did a lot to mobilize left-wing political activists around here. Progressive Democrats of Somerville (PDS) is a direct outgrowth of the Reich campaign.
Peter and Ron, you’re right. The DFA/DFMa groups were the Deanies, and the ProgDem groups were the Reich folks. But I think that the ’04 race in general really upped the ante for activism. I know that’s what got David and me into it. I’m suggesting that MA is interesting in that those new groups of people may actually be able to (A.) tip the balance in many cases, and (B.) are always around to influence the debate. In other states, the local progs may well be able to do (B.) but not (A.) (B.) is actually more important anyway, to my mind. Can we get their help on health care? 😉
Of course, there’s a lot of overlap between the Reich and Dean folks. PDS, for instance, just voted to affiliate itself with DFA.
As much as I’d like to agree with the hypothesis that Jehlen’s win represents some sort of new progressive push, there’s really no strong evidence of that. This was an entirely predictable result from day one.Jehlen started with the strongest base, representing a quarter of the district as a state rep, and generally being known in the rest of Somerville. She had an entry into the other communities through her history of advocacy, especially in the education area.It was her race to lose from the beginning, and she did nothing to lose it. Actually, the final results look an awful lot what any expert would have predicted when this race started. Nothing really changed along the way.It’s also a reminder as far as developing candidates for higher office. Jehlen could not have won this race if she was not a sitting incumbent state rep. Assuming she wins the final election, her replacement may very well be a current local elected official. While the “farm team” metaphor is overdone at times, it really does describe the way politics work. Voters go for familiar faces.
Charley, If there is a “nouveau ‘progressive’ movement” in Massachusetts, I would suggest that is was awakened by Robert Reich’s campaign, not Howard Dean’s.I tend to agree. Reich woke us up gently, and we hit the snooze. Then Crazy Dean came in “AAAAAAGHGHGGGHGHGH!!1!!!!!one!!1” and got us moving. Without Reich’s preparation, we’d have woken up grumpy when Deam stormed in.So, Kudos to both.
As much as I’d like to agree with the hypothesis that Jehlen’s win represents some sort of new progressive push, there’s really no strong evidence of that. This was an entirely predictable result from day one.On the contrary, I think there is much evidence to credit a new progressive push behind Jehlen’s win. She was not allied with traditional Democratic machines in Somerville or Medford, and was in fact unpopular with a lot of elected officials. They found alternatives and threw their resources behind them–Joe Mackey had all the establishment Democrats in Somerville, and Callahan had his own network in Medford plus his Governor’s Council supporters. Not a single mainstream newspaper endorsed her–her Bay Windows endorsement was an extension of the gay marriage groups’ endorsements. Everyone was saying Mackey had the momentum at the end of the race. The Troll can let us know what the establishment Democrats thought, because they looked at the race like it was 1995 and they knew all the people who were voting.Pat Jehlen was able to draw on a large pool of volunteers that went door-to-door to get her message out to voters who don’t tune into city politics. Her canvassers blanketed the district months before the election. She was unknown in Winchester before this race, and she came in a strong second to Casey, even beating him in one precinct. As I said on the Somerville News, there is a critical mass of young, active volunteers who are drawn to progressive campaigns and are willing to put the shoe leather in to get the word out. There is also a large number of liberal young professionals in the area who never cared about city or state politics before, who can be found by people who know how to talk their language and can get them into the polling booth. Voting isn’t just for seniors and connected people any more.If Jehlen had won narrowly, I would agree with you, and if she didn’t have competition from within Somerville, I would also have agreed. But she romped. And she did it with a huge visible organization she built almost entirely outside of the traditional Democratic organization in Somerville. Sciortino, Schofield, Jehlen–three signs in thirteen months of the new bloc.
Oh Troll, Bill White is a very nice and smart man, but even he knows that he is not going to be the next State Senator. When will you come down from your delusional haze?Perhaps you can now retire as promised and give us all a break. Or don’t you keep your campaign promises?
TGH: The great thing about “open source” forums like blogs is that crediblity is self-evident. I hope Troll comes back — he keeps things lively.
One hidden winner of yesterday’s election: The Somerville News. Not only did it sponsor the only Somerville debate, but it also published the results quickly on its web site, and provided a place to discuss them. The loser? CNC’s paper, the Somerville Journal. Still has no election coverage on its web site, over 16 hours after the polls closed. Its parent paper, the Boston Herald, has also failed to cover the race.
Somerville’s election results, broken down by ward and precinct, are now available on the city’s web site.
I was turned on to BMG a few months ago by a friend from Somerville who was volunteering for Jehlen. What a great place. I learned so much about this race and my neighboring areas to the north. I want to say congrats to everyone.I hope the senate race to replace my senator, Jarret Barrios will bring out lively discussion and information. Any idea of who the candidates will be?
Alice Wolf has indicated interest — not sure if she’s running or not.
Doesn’t Alice Wolf live in Cambridge? No part of Pat’s House district is in Cambridge.
Oops, ignore that last comment — I didn’t notice that the discussion had shifted to Barrios’ Senate seat.
CharlesGG, is Barrios’ seat empty for some reason (not that i’d heard), or are you just asking who will challenge his re-election?
oops, sorry for posting before googling. yes, he’s announced that he will run for middlesex DA.
Alice Wolf would be great.Who is troll? Why are people down on him/her?
I’m… not gonna touch that one.
Yep, no doubt about it, candidates like BMG! I got an e-mail recently from a candidate about a posting I did here, so I know that they are starting to pay attention. I agree with Fred that keeping the discussion going here and at other blogs, even in the dog days of August have added to Jehlen’s victory. It kept the activists motivated and involved and that is always a good thing. Imagine what could happen if local media covered the elections and issues with the same detail and analysis. Also, it’s a wake-up call to people that have given up on state politics because they think that only “insider-types” can get elected. When progressives get motivated and involved, progressives win. Yay!
Charlestowngayguy: you can form your own opinion of troll by reading the discussion threads on the other posts here covering the Second Middlesex special election. Unfortunately the blue box that listed them all is gone from the front page. Hopefully David will bring it back soon in some other easy to find form.We’ve still got a general election on September 27th, though the drama won’t be nearly the same. Then we’ve got a slew of exciting and fascinating municipal races in Somerville, Cambridge, Boston, and other parts of the the state (such as the one in Holyoke I posted about recently), coming up in November. And a special election for Somerville’s 27th Middlesex probably not long after that.I’ve got a post I may get a chance to write soon, about my experiences in the Jehlen campaign in the final few days.
I got an itch, and it can only be scratched by Bill White
Thanks to a scan by ‘medfordjared’ and posted to the medfordmass yahoo group, I’ve put a PDF of the primary results in Medford up on my blog: http://jiggle.anaze.us
Hmm, sorry, the last comment didn’t work very well. What I was trying to say is that I put up a PDF with the results of the Medford primary voting on my blog.
Fixed it, jd. I think you forgot the un-quote in your link URL. (I always do that.)
My pasrtner mentioned Christopher Schiavone. He is considewring running, and I think he would be a good progressive candidate.And he knows politics
I should review before I press post.My partner mentioned Christopher Schiavone. He is considering running, and I think he would be a good progressive candidate.And he knows politics
Running for what? Pat’s seat, or Jarrett’s?
Jarrett’s, i thought. He lives in Charlestown
Maybe I am confused.
CTGG: Is it this guy?“Christopher Schiavone, a former priest, is a business owner and freelance writer living in the Boston area.”Now THAT’S an interesting story.
Yes that’s him. My friend told me is running. Maybe I din’t know what he is running for. City Council maybe?
CTGG: Find out! 🙂
I called my partner. He told me Christopher was going to run for state represenative. I forgot to ask against who. But I do know he lives in Charlestown. also, very good looking
There’s some really good stuff in this thread, so I put up a new open thread on the front page.
Hey Charley, what’s so interesting in your opinion on the the thread
CTGG: is your partner sure he’s running because that’s almost as funny as Casey thinking he could win the senate seat
John G: See the new thread!
CMTA: I see it now; sorry, new to this. Barrios wins Middlesex DA because he’ll have the money and spin to do it, and Alice Wolf will win his seat because last election results from ’02 show Barrios trouncing Galluccio and she’ll get that vote as well as women and liberals throughout the district.Now the question is: who can win Alice Wolf’s seat. Not too late for speculation because election 06 is around the corner. This is money raising time and then it’s go in January after the holidays.