Dear friends, supporters, and loved ones,
I want to thank you for your hard work over this past 15 months in our effort to win the Sheriff’s race. Although we did not come out on top, we did finish 2nd in the election, and I am proud to say that 1 out of every 4 Boston voters wants me to be their Sheriff, the Chief Executive Officer for our County.
What we accomplished on September 9th was amazing! We spent only $8000 and received over 11,000 votes in the City of Boston alone! On the other hand, Steve Tompkins had to spend over a quarter of a million dollars just to keep us from defeating him this time!
This was an incredible feat. If you compare our vote totals to those who ran for Mayor last year in the Mayoral Primary, only Martin Walsh, John Connolly, and Charlotte Golar Richie had more votes than us, and that primary election in 2013 had three times as many voters who participated than we had this year on September 9th.
Also, both former City Councilors Michael Ross and Robert Consalvo last year spent over $1 million dollars yet only received 6000 votes each for Mayor. Yet we spent only $8000 and received over 11,000 votes this year in our contest for Sheriff. That demonstrates the power of grassroots marketing and organizing and it was all because of your efforts over the past 15 months.
We won three powerful Boston Wards: 6, 7, and my own home Ward 16 of Dorchester. Our electoral strength can be seen all the way from South Boston down to Florian Hall in Dorchester.
Our critics and cynics can continue to deny this, but we are a rising political force in this major American city of Boston.
Every professional politician was against us including Mayor Martin Walsh, City Councilor Frank Baker, State Senator Linda Dorcena Forry, and State Representatives Dan Hunt and Nick Collins, yet their constituents in those areas did not listen to them and instead voted for us! Even Dorcena Forry’s own newspaper which everyone knows is not a real newspaper but her “political public relations organ” came out against us. Yet the voters in her own area chose to support us instead.
Because of our strong showing, we are in a prime position to win a city-wide or county-wide seat in the future!
This is where I need everyone’s help. We have hand painted signs all across Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop. Over the past week, I have been asking all of you my friends to help me collect these signs so we can use them again. If you see a Sheriff Bennett sign near your house or as you drive by, please help me by collecting them on my behalf so we can use them again in the future. We want to save them for the next run.
Please let me know if you can help me with this task. If you pick up signs for me, contact me and I will then come pick them up from you to put them in storage. I can be reached at douglasbennett2014@gmail.com.
Like many great men who ran for Sheriff such as Dapper O’Neil and Steve Murphy, I thank you for your votes and your support.
Your friend and public servant always,
Douglas Bennett
