Patrick roars to nomination

Deval L. Patrick, who rose from poverty in Chicago's South Side to corporate boardrooms and a top post in the Clinton administration, swept to victory in the Democratic Party primary for governor yesterday, becoming the first African-American to win a major party's nomination for the top job in the state.

Patrick won half the primary votes cast yesterday, far outpacing his two better known rivals, businessman Christopher Gabrieli and Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly. He made strong showings in blue-collar urban enclaves, in liberal and conservative suburban towns, and in Western Massachusetts. He also carried Cape Cod.

With 98 percent of the state precincts reporting, Patrick had 50 percent of the vote, Gabrieli 27 percent, and Reilly was a distant third with 23 percent of the vote.

``We have clearly changed politics in Massachusetts tonight," Patrick told a cheering crowd gathered at his victory party in the Fairmount Copley Hotel in Boston. ``But this is not the end. At most this the end of the beginning."

Patrick said his victory reflected a strong demand by the electorate for a change in the way business is conducted on Beacon Hill and a rebuke to Governor Mitt Romney's style of governing.

``Voters said no to the Big Dig politics as usual and yes to the politics of hope and possibility," Patrick said. ``Voters said no to the inside deals and mediocre performance of our current administration and yes to accountability, candor, and leadership. Voters said no to division and exclusion, no to government by gimmick and slogans and sound bites and photo ops, and yes to lasting and meaningful reform."

Yesterday's results pit Patrick against Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, the GOP gubernatorial nominee, who is seeking to become the first woman elected governor in the state. She is the first woman that the state GOP has nominated for governor.

Patrick now faces a tough, seven-week campaign that the state's Democratic leadership hopes will return the governor's office to the party's control for the first time since 1990. He will battle Healey, who was unopposed for the Republican nomination, independent Christy Mihos, and Green Rainbow Party nominee Grace Ross.

With diminishing numbers in the House and Senate, much is at stake for the Republican Party in this year's gubernatorial election. A Healey defeat would be major blow to what little influence the GOP has at the State House.

At her primary night gathering in Boston, Healey went immediately on the attack against Patrick, saying he would raise taxes and spend more on government programs to satisfy the special interests that backed him in the primary. She said he would reverse the state's tough-on-crime policies. She also said that two-party democracy and balance is at stake, portraying herself as a check on the overwhelmingly Democratic Legislature.

``The choice facing voters finally comes into focus," Healey said. ``Deval Patrick's prescription of higher taxes, more spending, and weaker criminal justice laws are just the type of change we cannot afford to make and a risk we cannot take."

Democratic unity was strongly on display last night, with Reilly and Gabrieli lauding Patrick for his victory and pledging to work for his victory in the Nov. 7 election. Reilly appeared before supporters nearly two hours before the polls closed to congratulate Patrick for running an ``outstanding campaign" and to pledge to support Patrick. Gabrieli, who later appeared with Patrick at his victory speech, followed shortly afterward. ``I intend to work hard for Deval," he told his supporters.

Patrick built wide margins in liberal enclaves such as Cambridge, Newton, and Northampton. He also carried Boston, where Mayor Thomas M. Menino had put his organization behind Reilly, by well over 50 percent. Even in Quincy, where Gabrieli had the backing of the mayor and his political organization, Patrick edged out Gabrieli.

Reilly's problems were clear in the early counting when he failed to carry several areas that were key for him, such as communities in Middlesex County, where he served as district attorney, and New Bedford and Fall River, two cities he had counted on carrying. ``We gave it everything we had. It just didn't work out for us," said Reilly, the early front-runner.

A political unknown when he emerged as a potential candidate in January 2005, Patrick, a 50-year-old Milton resident, recorded a stunning victory against two established and experienced political figures. He initially captured the interest of liberal party activists, sweeping the party caucuses in February and then winning the endorsement of the party convention in June.

The primary campaign lacked much of the rancor that has marked previous Democratic state-wide races. But at the end, the candidates launched into spirited debates over the rollback of the income tax rate, immigration, and crime. Patrick emerged unscathed despite concerns by his advisers that his business background, which included his work as a lawyer for major corporations in controversial cases, would come under attack.

The vote yesterday ended the most expensive gubernatorial primary race in state history, with the campaigns spending more than $15 million in television ads. Gabrieli, a venture capitalist who used more than $10 million of his personal funds into his campaign, spent $8 million on television advertising.

But a key factor in Patrick's victory appears to have been the field organization that he and his staff built. It drew heavily on the Internet to organize supporters and to raise over $1 million in campaign donations. His political base included 8,000 volunteers across the state, many of them new to politics, and a field organization that identified over 100,000 committed Patrick voters.

Signs of a Patrick victory developed shortly before Labor Day when his campaign began airing television ads, competing for the first time with Reilly and Gabrieli, who had been airing ads since mid-July. Despite their heavy spending on ads, Patrick, who had less money to spend, was able to remain in contention. A Globe poll taken Aug. 18 to 23 showed the race was a virtual dead heat.

According to top Reilly strategists, Patrick began to move into the lead in their polls shortly after his ad campaign started. By the time three met in their first significant debate on Sept. 7, the race appeared to shifting in his favor. ``Patrick closed the deal just after Labor Day," said one Reilly campaign official.

Patrick, who attended Milton Academy on a scholarship and earned a bachelor's and law degrees from Harvard University, first appeared on the political scene 20 months ago, having just resigned as general counsel for Coca-Cola. He told the Globe in January 2005 that he was exploring a race for governor, and in April he announced his candidacy. At the time, he was considered a long shot to beat Reilly.

As Patrick built an effective campaign organization and wooed activists, Reilly stumbled badly last January when his choice for a lieutenant governor running mate, state Representative Marie St. Fleur of Dorchester, was forced to withdraw two days after he had chosen her because of her personal financial problems.

Against the advice of some of his experienced advisers, Reilly had passed over Gabrieli in favor of St. Fleur, a decision that also came back to haunt him when two months later Gabrieli decided to run for governor. He and Reilly appealed to the same moderate and conservative Democratic base.

Reilly suffered a political blow when a section of the Big Dig tunnel collapsed in July, killing a Jamaica Plain woman. The incumbent attorney general, he faced questions over his role in the oversight of the project.

Gabrieli drew on his personal fortune in two previous attempts to win public office. In 1998, he spent $5 million in an unsuccessful bid for a congressional seat. Four years later, using another $5 million, he won the nomination for lieutenant governor.