By Mary Whitfill, News Staff
Marty Walsh
Martin J. Walsh of Dorchester was the winner of Tuesday night’s mayoral primary election. Pulling ahead of John Connolly, the predicted front-runner, by 1.25 percent, Walsh won with a total of 20,838 votes, according to the City of Boston.
“I’m so grateful to all the people who made tonight’s result possible,” Walsh said in a statement. “Tonight’s a great start, but it’s only a start, and we have a lot more work to do over the next six weeks.”
A Boston College graduate, Walsh is a lifelong Boston resident, the son of Irish immigrants and a homeowner in Dorchester. Walsh has served as a Democratic member of the Mass. House of Representatives since 1997, is chairman of the Committee on Ethics and serves as co-chair of the Mass. Democratic Party Labor Caucus.
In the House, Walsh focused on economic development, education and substance abuse treatment. Prior to announcing his bid for mayor, Walsh served as business manager of the Boston Building Trades, a group that represents labor unions.
“I am a son of labor, but I am a man of principle and courage, ready to work with anybody who wants to move our city forward and willing to stand up to anyone who gets in the way,” Walsh said at a Greater Boston Labor Council breakfast in early September. “Our city has changed, the business model has changed, and, yes, labor must evolve and continue to change, as well. Change means a vision to lead on jobs and education.“
As a legislator, Walsh has been recognized for creating and protecting jobs. He plans to continue this advancement as mayor by forging partnerships between schools, city agencies, residents and workers. Walsh will fight for living wages, safe working conditions and health benefits, according to his website.
Additionally, Walsh takes strong stances on a variety of social issues. He was an early supporter of marriage equality and has become a leader on substance abuse recovery, an issue he relates to as a recovering alcoholic.
If elected, Walsh will create an Office of Addiction Recovery Services within the Boston Public Health Commission, according to his website. Combining this leadership with his value of equal access to education, Walsh says he will work with Boston Public School leadership to establish a substance abuse education and prevention curriculum.
“This is a race about who we are – about values, and about whether Boston will be a city for all its people, in every neighborhood, not just some,” Walsh said at his election night party in Dorchester.
Walsh will launch the next six weeks of his campaign with a volunteers meeting on Thursday.
“What makes this election so big and so important is that after two decades of Mayor Tom Menino, his trusted leadership, we are stepping into a new era,” Walsh said. “We recognize the next 20 years will be different from the last — new problems, new opportunities and new challenges.”
John Connolly
John R. Connolly, known as “the education mayor,” will continue onto the general mayoral election to face Marty Walsh in November. Connolly brought in 19,420 votes, 17.22 percent of the total votes cast.
“I have never been more thankful to be in second place in my life,” Connolly said at his election night party in Roxbury.
Since 2007 Connolly has served as a Boston City Councilor at Large, and was the first of 12 to announce his candidacy for mayor. Born and raised in Roslindale, John attended the Roxbury Latin School, Harvard University and Boston College Law School. He resides with his wife and three children in West Roxbury.
Connolly’s main platform in the race has been transforming Boston’s public schools. A former public middle school teacher and current BPS parent, John believes that an overhaul of Boston’s schools will lead to safer neighborhoods and brighter futures.
Connolly is the chairman of the City Council’s Committee on Education and during his term has focused on providing afterschool programs, closing the achievement gap and fostering parental involvement. In 2010 Connolly held an eight-hour public City Council education hearing to discuss contracts between BPS and the Boston Teacher’s Union.
Despite his strong focus on public schools, Connolly emphasizes that his vision extends beyond education reform.
“We’ve never been about a single neighborhood or a single movement or a single special interest, and believe it or not this campaign has never been about a single issue,” Connolly said. “This campaign is the face of Boston and we are working together for Boston’s future.”
Connolly also boasts a variety of ideas on promoting safe and affordable neighborhoods throughout Boston, including creating an Office of Recovery Services, re-launching a gun buy-back program and building more three-bedroom units for young families. Through these programs, Connolly hopes to connect public safety resources with public health and housing and, in turn, end violence and break the cycle of poverty, according to his website.
“Whether it is local terrorism on Boylston Street or the terrorism of street gangs on Talbot Avenue, every loss of life chips away at the soul of our city,” Connolly said.
Like Walsh, Connolly is prepared to jump immediately back into campaigning with surges of volunteers and staff members at the ready.
“I need you to wake up tomorrow, I need you to dust yourself off, and I need you to get back to work,” he said.
Other candidates included former city housing chief Charlotte Golar Richie with 13.77 percent of votes, Suffolk District Attorney Dan Conley with 11.32 percent and City Councilor at Large Feliz Arroyo with 8.77 percent. According to the City of Boston, 30.75 percent of registered voters participated in Tuesday’s election.
