Gubernatorial candidates vie for supporters in Roxbury

Yawu Miller

Gubernatorial candidates Thomas Reilly and Deval Patrick battled for the support of Roxbury political activists Monday with back-to-back events that provided contrasting snap-shots of their campaigns.

At 5 p.m. Reilly strode into Merengue restaurant to a warm reception from a collection of former employees and associates who together painted a picture of deep connections with the city’s African American and Latino communities.

Greeting Reilly were former law partner and childhood friend Wayne Budd as well as former Suffolk County District Attorney Ralph Martin, who served as an intern in his law office. Introducing Reilly were former assistant attorney generals state Rep. Marie St. Fleur and Marinie Torres.

More than 40 people crowded into the function room at the Blue Hill Ave. eatery as Reilly spoke of the guiding influence Budd’s father, a police officer and ex-Marine, had on him after his own father died.

An hour later at the Freedom House, Patrick was introduced by state Rep. Gloria Fox and state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, as part of a series of political forums held at the Grove Hall-based community organization.

What Patrick, a Chicago native, lacked in personal connections. he seemed to have made up for in sheer numbers.

“He’s the best man for the job,” Fox said to the crowd of more than 120, who packed into the basement hall. “He’s going to bring the diverse communities together.”

The mostly black crowd that assembled at 6 p.m. in the Freedom House was a seemingly representative sample of everyday people from the inner city — including political activists, Grove Hall residents, men and women in recovery from substance abuse and heads of local nonprofits.

Despite his lack of a political track record in Boston, Patrick has been able to secure a toehold in local politics, turning out a broad representation of black political activists including Horace Small, Bruce Bickerstaff, Eddie Jenkins, Mariama White-Hammond, Ron Bell and representatives from the offices of City Councilor Chuck Turner and state Rep. Byron Rushing.

“I’m welcoming him to my community,” said the former assistant attorney general, when asked if she supports his candidacy. “It’s a tough one. We’ll have to wait and see how it plays itself out. Reilly’s a good man.”

While Reilly impressed St. Fleur with his work as attorney general, it was his work on the campaign trail last year that won over Dorchester activist Linda Barros. Barros recalls how Reilly came by the Bowdoin Street Health Center for a half-hour visit and stayed for nearly an hour and a half.

“He listened to the youth,” she said. “He listened to everyone’s concerns. I think he’ll be a great candidate and he has a great chance to win.”

At Merengue it was Reilly and a handful of key supporters who did the talking.

At Freedom House, Patrick led a question-and-answer session he said was aimed at finding out what’s on the minds of the constituents he hopes to serve.

“I’m not just here to give a speech,” he told the audience. “I’m here to ask you how I can be a better candidate and a better governor.”

Although there was little in the way of campaign advice, audience members queried Patrick on issues ranging from the availability of state funding for drug treatment to the state’s criminal justice policies.

Former U.S. House Speaker Tip O’Neil’s famous “all politics is local” quote still resounds in Massachusetts, where Patrick has to contend with a presumptive Democratic front runner whose roots go back decades. While Patrick’s credentials as the head of former President Clinton’s Civil Rights Division have gotten his foot in the door, Patrick has had to make up for what he lacks in local connections with an aggressive schedule of town meetings.

Patrick says the meetings, in which he has queried groups of citizens on their concerns and aspirations, have given him a good idea of what Massachusetts needs in its next governor.

“I’ve talked to thousands and thousands of people and I’ve learned some things,” Patrick said.

Job training and day care are dire needs for the working poor, Patrick said. Public transportation linking jobs in Boston and low-income communities in places as far off as New Bedford are also needed, as is a renewed commitment to state-funded public housing developments.

“We need to stop taking baby steps forward,” Patrick said, outlining his big government vision for the state. “I’m going to offer something different.”

Patrick says he’s the only candidate who has not taken a “no new taxes” pledge, but has instead advocated shifting the tax burden away from local municipalities.

“We’re not going to play this fiscal shell game where the income taxes are cut and we pay more for property taxes,” he said. “We’re laying off teachers. We’re laying off firefighters. We’re laying off police. I’ve never heard anyone say they don’t mind if the police show up a little later on a 911 call.”

Patrick’s message resonated with the crowd at Freedom House as readily as did Reilly’s at Merengue. While Patrick’s address outlined his proposed policy initiatives, Reilly focused his on record as attorney general — supporting Lynn’s voluntary desegregation program, in-state tuition rates for the children of undocumented immigrants, fighting for public charities to benefit from the sale of the Boston Red Sox and other public policy victories.

His campaign pledge to make Massachusetts “great again” was not as polished as Patrick’s policy pronouncements, but his pitch for campaign support seemed to find willing participants in the audience, which included Democratic Party activists Ayana Pressley, Duamarius Stokes and Ralph Cooper.

“I need your help,” he told the activists. “I need your help in the caucuses. I need your help in the convention. I need your help getting the vote out.”