John Ruch
The local Ward 10 Democratic Committee is not endorsing a candidate for mayor after incumbent Thomas Menino and challenger Michael Flaherty both failed to win a two-third majority of committee votes on Oct. 8, the Gazette has learned.
Incumbent at-large City Councilors John Connolly and Steve Murphy also could not win the committee’s endorsements. Only candidate Ayanna Pressley won an at-large endorsement following the committee’s Oct. 8 candidate forum. Republican candidate Doug Bennett was not up for consideration. (As a Democratic Party committee, the group only meets with and endorses Democrats, even in non-partisan city elections.)
The failure of incumbents to win ward committee endorsements is unusual and suggests a boost for challengers and newcomers. The local Ward 11 Democratic Committee also did not endorse a mayoral candidate before the September preliminary election.
Still, Menino barely won the Ward 11 (eastern JP) vote in the preliminary. And he won JP’s Ward 10 area (Hyde/Jackson Squares) in the preliminary by a comfortable margin.
In the district City Council races, incumbents fared better. The Ward 10 committee endorsed District 6 Councilor John Tobin and District 8 Councilor Mike Ross.
For more election coverage, see the Oct. 23 Gazette.