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MAN BEHIND THE CURTAIN
Menino plays favorites
BY ADAM REILLY

Boston mayor Tom Menino didn’t formally support any of the candidates in last week’s special legislative elections, which were won by Linda Dorcena Forry (by a wide margin) and Michael Moran (by a narrow one). But he still managed to shape the outcome of both races.

Start with the 12th Suffolk, where Dorcena Forry handily beat four challengers. As a former City Hall employee — she was an aide to Charlotte Golar Richie, Menino’s director of neighborhood development — Dorcena Forry seemed likely to reap mayoral support. And she did. Weeks before the election, Mike Mackin, a Dorchester community activist with close ties to Menino, put a Dorcena Forry sign in front of his house. (The 12th Suffolk spans Dorchester, Mattapan, and part of Milton.) On Election Day, Mackin spent considerable time standing with Ed Forry — Dorcena Forry’s father-in-law — outside the polls at Dorchester’s Lower Mills Branch Library. For anyone versed in the rituals of Boston politics, the message was clear.

"Typically, you know the mayor is with whoever Mike Mackin’s with," says one individual close to the Stacey Monahan campaign. "Mike doesn’t move without the mayor knowing." Furthermore, despite her deep union support, Monahan didn’t get the endorsement of two key unions: Carpenters Union Local 67 and Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Union Local 26. Both are considered friendly to Menino. And both may have received quiet encouragement to back Dorcena Forry.

Given the magnitude of Dorcena Forry’s win, it’s hard to argue that Menino’s assistance was pivotal. But the mayor’s backing might have made the difference in the 18th Suffolk, which includes Allston, Brighton, and part of Brookline. In that race, Michael Kineavy, a key Menino aide, made no secret of his support for Moran. A long-time mayoral aide who was recently named Menino’s chief of policy and planning, Kineavy is personally friendly with both Moran and Moran’s girlfriend, Mary Kilgallen, who works in City Hall and happens to be one of Menino’s ward coordinators. "Kineavy was really flexing his muscle on this one behind the scenes," says one observer. As with Mackin’s turning out for Dorcena Forry in the 12th, Kineavy’s backing of Moran in the 18th sent a tacit signal of mayoral support.

Earlier this week, mayoral spokesman Seth Gitell downplayed Menino’s role in last week’s elections. "Mayor Menino made no formal endorsement in either race," he said. But a source close to Menino acknowledges that, despite his formal neutrality, Menino quietly helped both Dorcena Forry and Moran behind the scenes. Which, in the end, isn’t all that surprising. After all, he runs this city.


Issue Date: March 25 - 31, 2005
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