Despite probes, DiMasi getting benefit of doubt

House speaker expected to get third term today

House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi has made public statements that are directly at odds with the findings of state investigators. His close friends are under scrutiny by state and federal prosecutors, and one has been charged criminally with secretly trading on his connections to the speaker. Poll numbers say DiMasi's popularity among voters is plunging.

But today, with little opposition, he is expected to win an overwhelming victory as the majority of his 159 colleagues in the House re-install him for a third two-year term.

DiMasi is getting the benefit of the doubt from allies in a State House where the currencies of power and loyalty sometimes hold more value than ethical appearances and public anger.

DiMasi has been aggressively courting members, meeting with lawmakers in small groups to shore up support, and the affable North End politician is generally well liked in the building. DiMasi's core supporters on Beacon Hill also cite DiMasi's strong work as a policy maker, including his stances on gay marriage, healthcare reform, and raising the gas tax.

But observers said DiMasi's expected reelection starkly illustrates how the State House culture and the broad powers of the speakership can outweigh public opinion.

"He's proven to be the Teflon speaker," said Paul Watanabe, a political science professor at the University of Massachusetts. "It appears that unless any blows are landed directly, one survives. Nobody wants to be the one to throw the first stone."

For individual state representatives, supporting the speaker in today's installation proceedings can be as important to them as their votes on things such as taxes and healthcare. It can spell the difference between sharing a dimly-lighted office in the basement and getting a committee chairmanship, along with the extra staff and the boost in pay that comes with it.

State representatives who have been on the wrong side in past speaker's battles complain that they even have struggled to get basic office supplies or a courtesy phone call returned by the speaker.

"It's used to drive me nuts being there; nothing's changed," said Frank Jakubowicz, a former state representative from Pittsfield who, along with DiMasi, helped George Keverian oust House Speaker Thomas W. McGee in 1984. "These are politicians who are interested in holding onto their offices, and there's a mindset that they consider the offices their own. Part of that is not rocking the boat down there."

DiMasi, who has served as speaker since late 2004, for months has faced an Ethics Commission investigation involving the lobbying efforts of his close friends and associates, who received large payments from a computer software vendor at the same time the vendor was winning lucrative state contracts.

The allegations of influence-peddling have also attracted the attention of criminal investigators. His close friend and accountant Richard Vitale was indicted Dec. 18 and accused by Attorney General Martha Coakley of failing to report $60,000 he received from an association of ticket brokers to lobby for their legislation. DiMasi has said that he had no knowledge of Vitale's activities, but Coakley said her investigation showed Vitale contacted DiMasi directly on the ticket brokers legislation.

Nonetheless, several legislators have cited the fact that DiMasi hasn't been charged with a crime as a reason they continue to support him.

"Maybe we're just old-fashioned kind of people and think they're innocent until proven guilty," said Representative Jay Kaufman, a Lexington Democrat, applying the legal standard to Beacon Hill's working political calculus.

"I'm not naïve; I didn't fall off the turnip truck," said Representative James R. Miceli, a Democrat from Wilmington. "I just feel there's no reason not to vote for him and no reason not to support him. After reading everything, maybe some of the folks close to him have got some problems. But he happens to be the victim of circumstance, that's all."

A Globe poll taken last month indicated that DiMasi is at the bottom of the favorability ratings among prominent state politicians. His rating was 15 percent, an 11-point drop since the Globe poll in September 2007.

The number of residents who viewed DiMasi unfavorably jumped from 20 percent to 41 percent.

By comparison, Governor Deval Patrick had a favorability rating of 64 percent, while Senate President Therese Murray, who is little known among voters, had a rating of 19 percent.

Despite his unpopularity, a coalition of labor unions, gay-rights advocates, and environmental groups sent a letter to lawmakers Monday asking them to reelect DiMasi. And the reason he has a lock on the job is that there is no clear alternative.

The two legislators who have been jockeying for more than a year to succeed DiMasi - majority leader John H. Rogers and the House Ways and Means Committee chairman, Robert A. DeLeo - have both said they will not challenge DiMasi directly.

Rogers has been dogged by his own ethics scandal: He has been accused of paying a consultant with campaign funds, who in turn made mortgage payments on Rogers's Cape Cod vacation home.

DeLeo needs the backing of DiMasi supporters, so has avoided challenging the speaker publicly, according to lawmakers supporting DeLeo and Rogers.

Tellingly, there is more intrigue over whether the 16 Republican members of the House will vote to stick with minority leader Bradley H. Jones Jr. or go with a challenger, Lewis G. Evangelidis.

This morning, Democrats are scheduled to go into a closed-door caucus, and one of the senior lawmakers - Representative Angelo M. Scaccia of Boston - will call for nominations.

If he follows the usual traditions of the House, DiMasi will have someone ready to nominate him, as well as someone to second and third the nomination. Scaccia will then ask for other nominations, although there are not expected to be any. Then the members will vote.

There will be a separate vote on the House floor, where members will have to vote by roll call. At that point, most members will probably vote for DiMasi, with a handful of Democrats voting "present" as a protest vote.

Republicans traditionally vote as a bloc for the minority leader.

The Senate will go through a similar process, where Murray is expected to win an uncontested reelection.

"State reps have to really worry about two sources of ire: one is from the electorate, and the second is from positions of power on Beacon Hill," Watanabe said.

"And frankly in these cases there is more fear about losing favor with the leadership than with the electorate. I don't know if that says something about the culture of Beacon Hill or the state of electoral politics in Massachusetts."

Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com.