JOHN RUCH
Local City Councilor John Tobin was still facing no opposition in this year’s campaign as of last week in what is shaping up to be a quiet election citywide this fall.
If no challenger emerges before the May 15 deadline to pick up
nomination papers, it will mark the first time in recent memory the District 6 City Council seat has gone uncontested.
Tobin won the seat after multiple tilts at former City Councilor Maura Hennigan, and has had to fend off challengers in two elections since his 2001 win. In 2005, he showed some vulnerability by losing the Jamaica Plain vote to a challenger in 2005, but also showed strength by earning more than 10,000 district-wide votes, a very high amount for a district race.
Egleston Square-area City Councilor Chuck Turner and Hyde Square/Back of the Hill-area City Councilor Mike Ross were also unopposed as of last week.
The race for at-large City Council seats had drawn only a handful of challengers, most of them perennial or little-known candidates. One exception is John Connolly, a West Roxbury resident who made a strong showing in the 2005 preliminary election before finishing out of the running in the final election.