Supporters say Reilly's credibility can't be beat

Bill Downey, 70, is a retired plumber from West Roxbury -- ``the poor section," he jokes -- with a shock of white hair and bright blue eyes. A member of the Plumbers and Gasfitters Local 12 , he sees a kindred spirit in Thomas F. Reilly, who grew up in a working class family in Springfield and still rents half of a two-family house in Watertown.

``He's for the working man, definitely," said Downey. ``He came up the hard way. From day one he's worked, as we all have, from the bottom, hopefully to get to the top."

Downey was one of scores of union members holding signs for Reilly the other day at a rally at Florian Hall , a low-slung brick building off Gallivan Boulevard in Dorchester that serves as the headquarters of the state's largest firefighters' union. They cheered throughout speeches by City Councilor Maureen E. Feeney , state Representative Martin J. Walsh , US Representative Stephen F. Lynch , and Mayor Thomas M. Menino .

Reilly has 16 years of political experience, and he has amassed strong support from labor, politicians , and moderate to conservative Democrats. His rivals, who have never held public office, have tried to turn his resume into a political deficit; at a debate last week, Deval Patrick called him a ``bureaucrat." Reilly backers just roll their eyes.

``No other candidates have a record, except for Tom Reilly," said Bill Young , an organizer for the Pipefitters Local 537 and a lifelong Medford resident. ``Why would you go with somebody who doesn't have a record?"

Reilly also boasts support from veteran Democratic party activists, like Jean Moulton , a 75-year-old widow from Charlestown who has worked for dozens of campaigns. She said she signed up as soon as she heard Reilly was running because she was tired of Democrats fielding candidates who were too liberal to appeal to the broader electorate, which she believes prefers moderate governors.

``I'm what I would classify as a liberal Democrat, but I feel Tom is the right candidate at the right time," she said.

The Reilly camp also includes a legion of longtime Reilly friends and their families. Pratt Wiley is the 30-year-old son of Flash Wiley , one of Reilly's law partners from the 1970s. To Pratt Wiley, the campaign has ``the sense of a family working together."

Pratt Wiley said that when he started working for Reilly, he asked his parents and their friends why Reilly was one of their best friends.

``None had a good answer," he said.

`` He is what he is, and he is what you see -- someone who cares about people, who really does take an interest in a person's life, who gives as much as he gets and is loyal," Pratt Wiley said. ``Once you're a friend, you're a friend of his for life. And he seems to attract the same kind of people."

Reilly's campaign stumbled last winter, when he picked Representative Marie St. Fleur as his running mate. She withdrew from the race a day later after the Globe reported her tax and loan delinquencies. Last week, those troubles resurfaced when the Globe reported the Reilly campaign commissioned a report on St. Fleur's finances before she signed on, though Reilly said he never examined it.

But fans like Ben Flatgard , 21 , a student from Bolton who delayed his flight back to the University of Edinburgh to volunteer for the campaign, say voters see a broader picture of Reilly.

``I think he really should have the most credibility with voters -- they've seen his work in action and how much he cares about the state," he said.