Yesterday, I posted on Twitter that Walsh won 56 out of 59 precincts that Charlotte Golar Richie won in the preliminary, 10 out 11 precincts that John Barros won, and 16 out of 23 precincts that Felix Arroyo won.
I did a deeper dive into the precinct-by-precinct numbers and found more evidence that Marty Walsh’s performance got a big boost from the endorsements in those precincts. Walsh was behind Connolly in 55 of the 93 precincts in the preliminary, and Walsh’s margin increased between the preliminary and general in 91 of the 93 precincts.
Here are the details with a color-coded chart:
http://massnumbers.blogspot.com/2013/11/endorsements-of-walsh-by-arroyo-barros.html
It seems pretty clear that the Arroyo, Barros, and Richie endorsements made a big difference in the election outcome.
I think it made a big difference because the candidates who endorsed Walsh also brought in their own grassroots armies to canvass their neighborhoods and coordinated with Walsh’s people the entire time in a concerted effort. This is why the endorsements were critical. It wasn’t just the run of a mill “Im out, back this other guy” speech followed up with no action, they really brought their boots to the ground.
I completely agree—the endorsers worked tirelessly for Walsh and brought many followers. Endorsements in name only don’t usually make that much difference.