Menino stumps for Reilly in Boston

Mayor Thomas M. Menino dispatched hundreds of his supporters to polling places throughout the city today in an effort to help Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly secure votes in Boston, a critical battleground in the three-way Democratic gubernatorial primary.

From the Knights of Columbus hall in the North End to a Reilly operations center in Dorchester, Menino loyalists are working to turn out votes for Reilly.

Menino may make an appearance on Reilly's behalf later today after returning from New York, where the mayor accepted an award for outstanding urban school districts.

Menino's support today follows a joint public appearance yesterday, when the mayor said he had thrown his support behind the attorney general because of their longterm friendship and Reilly's regular, working-man image.

"He's worked hard to get where he is," Menino said. "That's why I'm with him."

Though the mayor's assistance has benefited candidates in the past, including State Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry, longtime political observers say they aren't sure if it will be enough to help Reilly surmount what polls have said is a formidable lead in the governor's race for Deval L. Patrick.

"I'm quite certain that all three of the Democratic nominees wanted the mayor on their side," said Lawrence S. DiCara, former city councilor and longtime City Hall observer. "That is worth votes. But we won't know how many votes until they count them."

The mayor's forces have been calling voters and circulating literature for the attorney general for only the past few weeks, according to one Menino volunteer at the Navarro Community Center in the North End. The volunteer, Alfredo Vilar, took vacation today from his job at the city's Transportation Department to campaign for Reilly.

"A lot of people like the mayor," said Vilar, who had thought about supporting Patrick before the mayor's endorsement. "Just having his name behind a candidate helps."

It helped sway Back Bay residents Antonio Tambunen and his mother, Teresa, who said they had been fans of Christopher Gabrieli until Menino introduced them to Reilly yesterday.

"That was kind of nice, actually," Antonio Tambunen said. "Gabrieli, I like his campaign, but I don't know him at all. Not that I know Reilly at all. But it's nice to see that a person I like endorses him."

Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.