Newcomers test their political muscle in City Council showdown

Turnout in Boston's minority neighborhoods was strong before the polls closed yesterday, a factor that helped shape the results of a City Council election that many viewed as another measure of the political power of the so-called New Boston.

In an at-large race marked by a fiercely contested fight, the city's first Asian-American candidate, Sam Yoon, won the seat vacated by Maura Hennigan, and Stephen J. Murphy, a council veteran seen as vulnerable, hung onto his seat by a comfortable margin. Council President Michael F. Flaherty and incumbant Felix D. Arroyo finished first and second, respectively.

The outcome of the election is expected to be seen as either a confirmation of the rising power of minority voters or an affirmation of the status quo.

Lines snaked out the doors at polling places in Chinatown, while Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, and parts of Dorchester saw turnouts above the city average by 6 p.m., which could favor minority candidates. Turnouts were also high in Hyde Park and West Roxbury, areas thought to favor Murphy and Connolly.

At English High School in Jamaica Plain, Kathy Evans, 54, a social worker, voted for Yoon and Arroyo.

''The city is very diverse, and it's about time that the council represented that," she said.

Two district races also gave voters in a few neighborhoods another chance to make changes. In District 2, which includes South Boston, the South End, and parts of Chinatown, James M. Kelly, a veteran city councilor, faced a challenge by Susan Passoni from the South End, who put tens of thousands of her own money into her race.

In District 6, which includes West Roxbury and Jamaica Plain, Councilor John Tobin of West Roxbury, a young councilor with serious political ambitions, faced a challenge by Gibran Rivera of Jamaica Plain, a native of Puerto Rico and a grassroots activist.

Not all voters, though, were interested in new faces. As Tobin stood near the front door of the entrance to the Manning School in Jamaica Plain, an elderly woman recognized him.

''You do a good job," she said, slapping him on the shoulder. ''Keep it up."

Two Service Employees International Union locals, racially diverse organizations that are trying to build a reliable base of liberal voters in the city, may have helped to pump up turnout in minority neighborhoods. Together they put more than $70,000 and hundreds of volunteer hours into turning out the vote in Jamaica Plain, Mattapan, Roxbury, and Dorchester. By 3 p.m., turnout in Wards 8 and 9 had exceeded totals two years ago. There was not a mayor's race that year.

The high turnout in those targeted wards ''says that people want to be involved in the political process; they just need to be reached," said Meghan Finegan, spokeswoman for Local 1199.

With many of the candidates moving to the left to attract minority voters, the outcome could revive support for such issues as the Community Stabilization Act, which would limit rent increases for certain tenants. Several of the candidates now say they support such a measure, in contrast to a majority on the council who voted to defeat it in the past. Most of the candidates also say they favor returning to an elected School Committee, which was abolished in favor of a mayorally appointed board.

The election could also affect the council presidency, which Flaherty wants to keep as he positions himself for a potential run in 2009.

''Flaherty needs seven [councilors to vote for him], and hypothetically, if some of his votes are gone and he's down to seven or eight . . . they may try to realign," said Larry DiCara, a former city councilor and amateur city historian. ''Certainly I think it's likely that Sam [Yoon] would align himself with Felix" Arroyo, who challenged Flaherty for the president's seat last year.

Yoon spent the first few hours of the day shaking hands in Dorchester before casting his ballot at the Lucy Stone school in Dorchester with his wife, Tina. His parents, Won Khill and Mann Kang Yoon, Korean immigrants, drove north from their home in Pennsylvania for the occasion.

''I feel at peace," Yoon said after he cast his ballot in the school's tiny cafeteria. ''We've done everything we could do. I'm just amazed we are where we are."

Arroyo spent part of the day knocking on doors at the heavily Hispanic Villa Victoria housing project in the South End before heading to Jamaica Plain.

Flaherty, whose campaign manager said volunteers made 20,000 last-minute phone calls yesterday, visited polls in Roslindale, Dorchester, Mattapan, and South Boston before voting at the L Street Bathhouse with his family at about 3:30 p.m.

In Chinatown, where people at times had to wait in line to vote, David Moy, a 64-year-old resident of Chinatown, who works part time in a restaraunt, said he cast a single vote for Flaherty because he wanted to stick with an incumbent. ''He takes action, he's friendly, and he has the experience to lead the Boston City Hall," he said.

He said he chose not to support Yoon -- ''he's too green" -- but he said he might next time.

But Claire Croghan, a 72-year-old resident of senior housing just outside Chinatown, said she cast an Arroyo-Yoon ballot. She considered her ballot a vote against the ''good old boy network."

''They're not beholden to anyone," she said. ''They're going to speak their minds."