Council results signal voting shift

Felix D. Arroyo carried more of Boston's 22 wards than any other candidate in Tuesday's preliminary election, a fact that has ignited mayoral aspirations for Arroyo and has given fuel to City Council challengers who have been trying to appeal to minority voters and white liberals.

It has also exposed some soft spots for Council President Michael F. Flaherty, who has been plotting a bid for mayor in 2009 and is eager to demonstrate that his popularity transcends racial and neighborhood boundaries.

Arroyo finished second overall behind Flaherty in Tuesday's election. But according to a Globe analysis of the polling results, the city's first Hispanic councilor at large won 11 of the city's 22 wards while Flaherty won only six in predominately white areas, including Charlestown, Dorchester, and his home neighborhood of South Boston.

The results appear to reinforce the belief of some candidates and political observers that voting patterns and preferences in Boston no longer automatically favor traditional candidates, who have been more typically white males, often with pedigrees in the city's Irish political establishment.

Challenger Sam Yoon -- the city's first Asian-American council candidate, who placed a strong fifth -- did well in the same neighborhoods as Arroyo, including Beacon Hill, the South End, Roxbury, and Jamaica Plain. Yoon also placed first in the ward that includes Chinatown and the North End.

An endorsement by Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi of the Massachusetts House of Representatives was seen as helping him in that neighborhood. Patricia White, the campaign's only woman, also did well in some of the same sections of the city as Arroyo.

During the final weeks of the campaign, when the mayor's race is likely to draw attention among more liberal voters, Arroyo, Yoon, and White believe they have nowhere to go but up.

''There's no improvement except to go to first place," said Arroyo, who two years ago did dramatically better in the final election than the preliminary race, riding an unprecedented wave of voters turning out in predominately black and Hispanic areas.

Arroyo outpolled his opponents in predominantly minority areas of the city and in white, liberal sections including Beacon Hill. He came in a close second to Councilor Stephen J. Murphy in the neighborhood where both live, Hyde Park.

Arroyo said his voters have a common bond. ''The city is becoming more expensive, and gentrification is there," he said. ''I represent the people who are less rich."

Arroyo said that he will decide whether to run for mayor ''when it is more pragmatically right to do so."

Flaherty has made no secret of his hope to run for mayor when Thomas M. Menino leaves office. The council president's large campaign war chest and first-place finishes in recent elections have made such a move seem inevitable. But yesterday, Flaherty said he is concerned merely with finishing in the top four spots in November and said it's too early to talk about a run for mayor.

Flaherty did well throughout the city, poll results indicate. And in part because the neighborhoods where he ran strong have high voter turnout, he finished 2,200 votes ahead of Arroyo overall.

But Flaherty's campaign is looking to shore up support in minority and liberal areas. He said he planned to devote a great deal of time to talking about closing the achievement gap in the Boston schools, an issue he said is of universal concern but particularly important to minority parents.

In recent weeks, Flaherty's decisions to oppose the Biosafety Level 4 lab proposed for the Boston University Medical Center campus and to advocate return to an elected School Committee may have helped him in minority and liberal neighborhoods.

In Ward 17, for example, a predominantly minority section of Dorchester, Flaherty came in third, after Arroyo and Yoon. In 16 of the city's 22 wards, Flaherty finished in the top four.

''On the issues, with the exception of rent control, I'm pretty liberal," he said. ''That's how it is."

He said he has also tried to expand his support in communities of color, holding a string of house parties over the last several months in Dorchester, Mattapan, and Roxbury.

''My three youngest children attend the Boston Public Schools, I was born in public housing, so I'm going to go right back to my roots," he said.

Yoon, a Korean-American from Dorchester, said he will also try to build on his support by tapping into the city's diverse population.

''The face of the city is changing," Yoon said. ''And I do feel I represent a very positive aspect of that change, which is that certain communities, linguistic minorities, different cultures and backgrounds have not been represented in government."

White, who placed sixth behind Yoon, did well in both conservative and liberal neighborhoods. She said she believes she can break away from the pack by advocating for women's issues and by proposing initiatives on topics such as child care, education, and child health.

She also said she was encouraged by her performance in predominantly minority neighborhoods.

''Knowing that those numbers are going to increase in terms of turnout in November is very encouraging," she said. ''These communities that voted for me certainly understand my ability to build bridges across ethnic lines."

But there are other eager challengers too. John Connolly, the son of the former secretary of state, finished first in voter-rich West Roxbury. And Matt O'Malley, though he lacked a first-place finish in the preliminary voting, has stressed his ability to reach out to voters of all backgrounds, in part because of his experience managing the campaign of Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral.