Low-key Senate race seems a ground game
The last time Anthony Petruccelli vied for an open legislative seat, it was billed as an East Boston showdown between two ambitious young candidates -- and their powerful patrons.
In the 1999 special election for state representative, Petruccelli had the support of Mayor Tom Menino, for whom he had worked as a neighborhood coordinator. His opponent, Richard Lynds, an aide to outgoing state Representative Gus Serra, was backed by his boss and the local organization Serra built during 28 years in office. The colorful race was as much a duel between the camps of the two veteran pols as it was a clash of the candidates themselves.
Petruccelli prevailed and he has been the local rep ever since.
Eight years later, Petruccelli is in another two-man special election, a contest pitting him against Revere City Councilor Dan Rizzo to fill the seat vacated in March by former Senate president Robert Travaglini. Despite the big shoes being filled, the race has been a low-key affair, perhaps because unlike the 1999 smackdown, it has thus far looked more like David and Goliath than Hatfield and McCoy.
Petruccelli, though still a boyish 34 years old, has emerged after nearly a decade in office as the heavyweight in the race, with a powerful lineup of honchos on his side, led by Menino, Travaglini, and a host of House colleagues. And at Petruccelli's Bennington Street headquarters, it's clear that the East Boston divide from the earlier race is long gone. Poring over voter lists one afternoon last week was his campaign field coordinator, Richard Lynds.
"He and I always got along," says Lynds, a lawyer now in private practice who is helping to direct his one-time foe's effort in the May 29 Democratic primary.
Petruccelli has managed to get along with lots of people, something he says is an asset not only in the campaign, but in public office. "I think it's an important quality for the next senator to have the relationships and experience to deliver for this district, and I think I have that," says Petruccelli.
"I know that in many circles I'm considered the underdog," says Rizzo, a four-term city councilor. But he points out that the sprawling Senate district is much bigger than just East Boston, including most of Revere -- which will deliver perhaps 25 percent of the primary vote -- as well as Winthrop, the North End, West End, part of Beacon Hill, and a big slice of Cambridge running along the river from East Cambridge through Cambridgeport. Boston and Cambridge precincts should each account for about 30 percent of the vote, with Winthrop making up about 15.
Rizzo claims the support of the mayor of Revere and 9 of 11 city councilors, and he has the backing of Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral, state Senator Jarrett Barrios, and several Cambridge city councilors.
Rizzo, 47, says his experience in local government gives him "a better perspective than one that was just formed on Beacon Hill."
One detail dogging his candidacy: Rizzo doesn't actually live in the district. He is in the one Revere ward that is not part of the district. But state law only requires that a candidate live in a Senate district at the time of the final election, in this case June 26, something Rizzo says he will comply with if successful in the primary.
On issues, there is little to distinguish the two candidates. Both support allowing slot machines at the state's four race tracks, two of which are in the Senate district, although Rizzo says full-scale casinos would bring more economic benefits.
Both support the Patrick administration's effort to close corporate tax loopholes and allow communities to levy added local taxes on meals and lodging. And each says he would vote against efforts to amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage -- though Petruccelli won the endorsement of MassEquality, the main lobbying group in support of gay marriage.
That means the outcome will largely boil down to organizational strength to get supporters to the polls. With no Republicans on the ballot, the winner of the primary, on the day after Memorial Day, will walk into the seat in the June final election.
Petruccelli plays down the idea that he's the clear front - runner, or that his strength comes from the cast of powerful players in his corner. The candidate with the "most balanced grass-roots support will win," he says. "Do I feel I have that? Yes, I do."
Meanwhile, Rizzo, for whom Barrios is hosting a Cambridge house party later today, says his opponent's big-foot endorsements only go so far. "When I look at where the votes are going to come out," he says, "I feel I can be competitive."
Michael Jonas can be reached at jonas@globe.com. 
