Yancey defeats Ezedi in bitter council race

The northern and southern ends of the district, Grove Hall and Mattapan, stood firm behind Yancey and helped him capture 55 percent of the vote and an 11th term in the narrowest victory margin of his career. He faced down an opponent who had the support of Yancey's colleagues on the City Council, including its president, Michael F. Flaherty.

Citing the turnout of 6,690 voters, Yancey, whom Ezedi criticized as an absentee councilor, called the race a bold statement from Dorchester and Mattapan's voters against political opponents such as Flaherty who conspired to have him ousted.

In his victory speech, Yancey fired a salvo at his adversaries in the council and extended an olive branch to Ezedi, who was in the audience and later addressed the crowd.

"In an important race for our community, we must ward off any attack on our community, whether it is internal or external," Yancey said.

"This is the beginning of a more mature community. This signifies people coming out for the community," Yancey added. "We don't need people outside the community to decide for us. This is the time for healing. Many things were said. I could name names, but I don't want to. I want to begin the healing process for the community."

Ezedi, 30, a former aide to US Representative Michael Capuano, received 45 percent of the vote in his first run for office, mostly from mining for disgruntled former Yancey supporters in Yancey's own Melville Park neighborhood, and from those in pockets of Codman Square and Ashmont Hill who were drawn to Ezedi's attacks on the 54-year-old Yancey as a divisive and obsolete politician.

Yancey, an African-American who built his reputation working against the city's historically white political landscape, positioned himself as the establishment candidate.

He touted his record of bringing improvements to beleaguered sections of Dorchester and Mattapan, such as community centers and a police station, as well as his fights against budget cuts to public schools.

While Ezedi also is African-American, Yancey frequently spoke publicly about the whites who backed Ezedi, including Flaherty and Councilors Maureen Feeney and Rob Consalvo, to suggest that Ezedi's support in the majority-black district was weak.

In the neighborhoods, a number of Ezedi's earliest supporters were whites -- some longtime residents, others who have ushered in gentrification -- and young black professionals who unified under Ezedi's pledge to build coalitions between disparate communities and form a relationship with Mayor Thomas M. Menino's administration to improve the delivery of city services.

Yancey, on the other hand, called on many of the black stalwarts in the neighborhoods -- business owners and longtime family friends -- and the black political establishment, from Councilor Chuck Turner to state Senator Dianne Wilkerson, who took the lead in publicly campaigning for him.

By the preliminary election on Sept. 23, Ezedi said he was struggling against being portrayed by Yancey's campaign as "the white man's candidate," which hurt his chances, he said last night.

"It was a combination of things," Ezedi said. "This was my first race, so I'm really learning how to do it right.

"The whole white man's candidate thing also affected the campaign, but not much," he said. "It was certainly a smoke screen to take away from the issues. It was a combo of folks still having loyalty to the councilor."

At Yancey's invitation last night, Ezedi took the stage and addressed the crowd of about 150.

"Thanks to everybody, and I want to thank Councilor Yancey for welcoming me here," Ezedi said.

"But I want him to know that I'm not going anywhere," he added.

Globe correspondent John McDermott contributed to this report. Corey Dade can be reached at dade@globe.com.