Southie’s not the only Boston neighborhood that likes Scott Brown

Obviously it comes as no surprise that Democrats overwhelmed Republicans in the majority of Boston during last month’s special election.   But there were a couple of areas of strength for Scott Brown in the city.  He won one district, and ran fairly strong in three others.  While South Boston was the only neighborhood in which the Republican actually topped Martha Coakley, he came pretty close in Charlestown, West Roxbury, and East Boston.

Here’s the quick run down (because there really isn’t much drama), and I decided to add the precincts to these totals from here on out so readers can see how the numbers break down:

(Note: Some of these districts have one or two precincts in different neighborhoods, but I am listing them with the neighborhood they primarily represent.  Bostonians, please forgive me if I am slightly off.)

First Suffolk (East Boston) – Currently Represented by Carlo Basile (D).

Not a bad showing from Republican voters in East Boston.  Still no candidate has stepped up to challenge Basile as far as I can tell.

Second Suffolk (Charlestown and Chelsea) – Currently represented by Eugene O’Flaherty (D).

Very similar to Basile’s district, although Brown was even closer to winning Charlestown than he was Eastie.  O’Flaherty does not have a challenger as of yet.

Third Suffolk (North End, Beacon Hill, South End, Bay Village) – Currently represented by Aaron Michlewitz (D).

Haven’t heard anything about a challenger in the North End, so right now the freshman Rep. appears headed to an easy re-election.

Fourth Suffolk (South Boston) – Currently represented by Brian Wallace (D).

Most of you guessed correctly last week (and then the coverage over the weekend made it obvious) that Brian Wallace’s South Boston district went big for Scott Brown.  The irony is that Wallace actually has several Democratic challengers.

On his left, Wallace is looking at challenges from Michael McGee, Jeffrey Poreda, and Jacob Bombard.  One Republican, Patrick Brennan, has also entered the race. I actually need to recuse myself from commenting on this campaign for the time being, as one of those challengers was a groomsman in my wedding.

Fifth Suffolk (Dorchester) – Currently represented by Marie St. Fleur (D).

Not much to say about this one.  St. Fleur will cruise to re-election, likely unopposed.

Sixth Suffolk (Dorchester, Mattapan, Hyde Park, JP) – Currently represented by Willie Mae Allen (D).  Open seat in 2010.

Allen announced her retirement last week, so this seat will be open.  The State House News reports that potential candidates include Karen Payne, Kathy Gabriel, and Darrin Howell.

Seventh Suffolk (Roxbury, Fenway) – Currently represented by Gloria Fox (D).

Another Democratic blowout, another likely unopposed State Rep.

Eighth Suffolk (Beacon Hill, Back Bay) – Currently represented by Marty Walz (D).

I applaud GOP efforts to challenge Democratic incumbents and try to pick up some seats, but it will take more than Scott Brown momentum to help Republican challenger Brad Marston upset Walz.  In fact, as you can see, Brown had no momentum in the 8th Suffolk, and as chair of the Committee on Education, Walz can point to a major achievement with last month’s passage of the education reform bill.

Ninth Suffolk (South End) – Currently represented by Byron Rushing (D).

At this point I am only going to make notes if there is a challenger, open seat, or interesting numbers.

Tenth Suffolk (West Roxbury, three precincts of Brookline) – Currently represented by Michael Rush (D).  Open seat in 2010.

Rush has announced that he will run for the State Senate, so this seat will also be open in 2010.  As you can see, Brown very nearly won West Roxbury (missed by just 25 votes), and kept it close in this district.  While the inclusion of part of Brookline will likely keep Rush’s district in the blue column, anything can happen with an open seat.  Anything, that is, if a Republican candidate actually runs.  To my knowledge, only Democrats Paul Sullivan and Kelly Tynan have announced their intention to run.

Eleventh Suffolk (Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Roxbury) – Currently represented by Elizabeth Malia (D).

Like Wallace, Malia may be facing a primary challenge from a fellow Democrat in September.  There were reports as far back as October that Rose Staram may challenge Malia, although I cannot find a record of her in OCPF.   When 93% of the district is voting Democratic, a challenger would probably have to be pretty far left to pull off the upset.

Twelfth Suffolk (Dorchester and Mattapan) – Currently represented by Linda Dorcena Forry (D).

Thirteenth Suffolk (Dorchester) – Currently represented by Marty Walsh (D).

Fourteenth Suffolk (Roslindale and Hyde Park) – Currently represented by Angelo Scaccia (D).

Fifteenth Suffolk (Jamaica Plain, Mission Hill) – Currently represented by Jeffrey Sanchez (D).

Seventeenth Suffolk (Allston-Brighton) – Currently represented by Kevin Honan (D).

Eighteen Suffolk (Allston-Brighton, one precinct of Brookline) – Currently represented by Michael Moran (D).

———-

You may have noticed that I skipped the 16th (Reinstein) and 19th (DeLeo) Suffolk districts, because I am still waiting for complete numbers from Saugus and Revere.  Since Brown won both of those towns, I need to hold off on those districts.

The good news for Democrats is that, for the most part, they still dominate the vote in the city of Boston.  But as you may have noticed, there were some bright spots for Republicans besides Southie.  Scott Brown posted strong numbers in West Roxbury, East Boston, and Charlestown

The bad news for Democrats is that I have now already covered the Berkshires and Boston, which were Martha Coakley’s best regions.

Next up is Plymouth County, where Scott Brown nearly pulled off the sweep.

Tags: Aaron Michlewitz, Angelo Scaccia, Boston, Brad Marston, Brian Wallace, Bryron Rushing, Carlo Bastile, election results, Eugene O'Flaherty, Gloria Fox, Jeffrey Sanchez, Kevin Honan, Linda Dorcena Forry, Marie St. Fleur, Martin Walsh, Marty Walz, Michael Moran, Michael Rush, Mike McGee, State Reps, Willie Mae Allen

This entry was posted on February 16, 2010 at 10:59 am and is filed under Featured Stories, Latest News, Spotlight, State Legislature, State Representative, State politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.