ARCHIVES OF LEAD STORIES
November 4, 2004
Three black candidates compete
in 12th Suffolk
Yawu Miller
One month after House Speaker Thomas Finneran announced
his plans to vacate his 12th Suffolk District House seat, four
candidates are vying for support in their bids at winning the
district.
Several other political activists are eying the seat, which Finneran
plans to leave in January. A special election will likely be held
in March or April.
The district, which has a majority minority population, has long
been seen as winnable for a candidate of color, but three of the
four candidates officially in the race are black — a development
that could dilute the black vote.
Former aide to State Sen. Jack Hart Emmanuel Bellegarde, Department
of Neighborhood Development Executive Assistant Linda Dorcena
Forry, and political activist Carol Mallory Causey have all opened
campaign accounts with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and
Political Finance.
State House attorney Eric Donovan, who is white, has also done
so and has printed bumper stickers.
Conventional wisdom holds that a successful campaign will have
to reach out to diverse corners of the district, which includes
predominantly black/Caribbean sections of Hyde Park and Mattapan,
the diverse and yuppified Lower Mills, conservative Irish Catholic
Neponset and upper-middle class neighborhoods in Milton’s
wards 6 and 7.
Dorcena Forry, who has gotten an early start on door-knocking,
says she’s up to the task.
“I’m Haitian American, but I believe I am the candidate
who can bridge these communities,” she said.
While Dorcena Forry has not yet received formal endorsements,
she says she has received pledges of support from activists in
the Haitian community. She can also count on support from her
husband, Bill Forry, managing editor of the Dorchester Reporter
and scion of an influential Dorchester family.
The Reporter has hired an ombudsman to ensure fair coverage of
the race.
In Bellegarde’s corner is Mukiya Baker Gomez, a veteran
political organizer who has gone undefeated in city and State
House races in the black community from Mattapan to Lower Roxbury.
Bellegarde has worked in the State House as aide to Hart and state
Rep. Marie St. Fleur.
“I think this is very winnable,” he told the Banner.
“I’ve had experience working on the hill and working
with the people.”
Mallory Causey could not be reached for comment by the Banner’s
press deadline.
City Councilor Charles Yancey, who represents parts of Dorchester
and Mattapan contained in the 12th Suffolk, said the prospects
for a candidate of color are still good.
“I believe that a well-organized, well-financed campaign
on the part of a candidate who is competent and committed to the
community can win,” Yancey said. “I suspect there
will be a doubling of the number of candidates before the filing
deadline is up.”
With three people of color in the race so far and just one white,
the math could easily work in favor of Donovan. But the field
of prospective contenders includes nine more whites hailing from
Dorchester and Milton.
The prospect of a packed field of candidates raises another possible
scenario. In a special election, where turnout could possibly
be lower than usual, the 5,000-or-so votes Finneran usually garnered.
That scenario raises the possibility of a candidate winning with
fewer than 1,000 votes.
Baker-Gomez says she expects to see candidates dropping out of
the running before the race gets under way.
“I think a wash-out will occur in January,” she said.
“Most people are still in an exploratory stage. People don’t
yet know whether they have a real chance at winning.”
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