Buzz is with Forry, but are the votes?

As the abbreviated race for the Mattapan-based House seat vacated by former speaker Tom Finneran rolls toward the March 15 Democratic primary, it's clear that the buzz is behind Linda Dorcena Forry. The 31-year-old aide to city housing chief Charlotte Richie, who began the race with the backing of a bevy of city officials and the support of state Representative Marie St. Fleur, for whom she previously worked, has added several key endorsements that make her increasingly look like the candidate to beat in the five-way Democratic field.

After recently winning the backing of DotOUT, a new, Dorchester-based gay and lesbian political organization, Forry last week picked up the endorsement of philanthropist Barbara Lee, who directs -- and funds -- a Cambridge-based foundation aimed at increasing the ranks of women on every rung of the political ladder from state houses to the White House.

The Forry flurry must have fellow candidate Stacey Monahan wondering whether she suddenly resembles chopped liver. After all, in her session with DotOUT, Monahan, the district chief of staff for congressman Steve Lynch, offered unconditional support of gay marriage and opposition to any efforts to amend the state constitution to limit same-sex marriage rights. And her qualifications for increasing the presence of women in public office, if elected, seem unimpeachable.

''That's always a difficult decision," Lee said, of her move to back a candidate in a field with more than one woman running. ''I felt that Linda really represents the diversity of the district in a very powerful way." It's an allusion to what is surely the chief issue bubbling beneath the surface in the contest.

Forry, the daughter of Haitian immigrants and wife of Bill Forry, the Irish-American son of a well-known Dorchester family that publishes several local neighborhood weeklies, seems to be the perfect embodiment of the New Boston zeitgeist, with its focus on the melding of different cultures and increasing role of newcomers and minorities in the city's social and political fabric.

The sense that it's time for the 12th Suffolk district, where minorities make up 69 percent of the voting-age population, to be served by a minority lawmaker is only compounded by the fact that the seat was held for more than two decades by Finneran. The former House speaker was widely seen as the driving force behind a 2001 redistricting scheme that was thrown out by a federal court for diluting minority voting strength.

For her part, Monahan says the contest should not be about race but about ''who can most effectively represent every part of the district, and I think I'm the person who can do that."

While the buzz may be with Forry, a key labor endorsement is going Monahan's way, a factor that can't be taken lightly in what's likely to be a low-turnout race.

Monahan, whose father and cousin are top officials with Local 103 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, was recommended for support last week by the Greater Boston Labor Council, a move that usually leads to endorsement by the full state AFL-CIO. The labor council unions claim close to 4,000 members in the district.

''No one does get-out-the-vote on Election Day like labor unions and congressman Lynch," said Monahan, who is also counting on help from her boss and political mentor.

Michael Jonas can be reached at jonas@globe.com.