Race for 2d spot down to the wire

FRAMINGHAM -- In a final push before tomorrow's primary, the Democrats running for lieutenant governor sought yesterday to promote themselves as the best asset to the party in helping unseat the Republicans from the state's top two seats for the first time in 16 years.

In the final debate before tomorrow's vote, Andrea Silbert said she would connect better with the suburban mothers who played a key role in the 2002 election, while Timothy P. Murray said he would help gain votes in Central Massachusetts, a region the Democrats lost in the last election.

``The Democrats cannot afford to have [Interstate] 495 to Springfield as a flyover country for the Republicans," said Murray, the mayor of Worcester, in an interview after the hourlong debate sponsored by the state Democratic Party.

``People need to think of this race as, `Who can compete?' "

Silbert, a Harwich businesswoman with three young children, said that having a woman on the ticket would allow the Democrats to attack Kerry Healey more effectively .

``I think it's harder for men to attack women because they come across as a bully," she said in an interview. ``It would be very helpful to have a woman lieutenant governor who can go after her."

About 100 people attended the debate, with Silbert supporters sitting on the left side and Murray supporters on the right.

The third candidate in the race, Deborah Goldberg, opted not to attend yesterday's debate because she was presenting an award at a celebration of the 20th anniversary of Adoptions with Love, an adoption agency where Goldberg serves as president of the board.

That event ended at 4 p.m. in Concord, the same time the debate was starting at Joseph P. Keefe Technical School in Framingham.

Goldberg, who has poured $2.1 million of her own money into her campaign, has promoted her municipal experience as chairwoman of the Brookline Board of Selectmen, and business experience with her family's supermarket chain, Stop & Shop.

Party officials also say that her wealth would provide money for the Democrats to compete with a well-financed Republican team.

A poll conducted for the Boston Globe and CBS4 found that the race for lieutenant governor was wide open. The poll surveyed 523 likely Democratic primary voters over a four-day period ending Friday, before the weekend of campaigning.

Among voters who said they would definitely vote tomorrow, Goldberg and Murray were tied with 27 percent. Silbert had 16 percent according to the poll, which has a margin of error of 5.5 percent.

The poll shows Murray with the most support in Central Massachusetts, and with a favorability rating in the region that is twice that of Silbert and Goldberg. That plays into his argument that he would help offset Reed Hillman, Healey's choice for lieutenant governor, who also lives in Worcester County.

Unlike the Republicans, the Democrats typically do not choose running mates and only pair up after the primary.

As Murray repeatedly touted his experience as mayor and Silbert continued to press job creation as the issue she cares most about, both candidates yesterday said they would avoid immediately reducing income taxes. Both said they oppose the idea of public schools offering sex education courses that focus on abstinence only.

They also both said they want to expand the state's commuter rail system, though they quibbled over how to get it done. Silbert wants to seek federal money, while Murray shot back, ``The federal government, after the Big Dig, is not going to come rushing to fund us."

They also disagreed sharply on whether or not to lift the state's cap on the number of charter schools, which is 120. Silbert says lifting the cap would allow for more innovation in education, while Murray said such a move could hurt other public school systems. Goldberg opposes lifting the cap.

Matt Viser can be reached at maviser@globe.com