Primary brought highest turnout since 1990
More voters turned out for this week's election than for any Democratic primary since 1990, a surge that party officials credit to gubernatorial nominee Deval L. Patrick's grass-roots organizing and that analysts say was also fueled by competitive local races and voter-turnout drives.
There were an estimated 915,209 Democratic ballots cast Tuesday in the contest pitting Patrick against venture capitalist Christopher F. Gabrieli and Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, according to MassVOTE, a nonprofit voter education organization.
When Shannon O'Brien won the nomination in 2002, 767,226 Democratic voters turned out. When Scott Harshbarger won in 1998, that number was 633,919, and in 1994, only 553,987 Democrats turned out. In 1990, John Silber and Francis X. Bellotti attracted 1.1 million to the polls.
``I don't think any of the statewide candidates [since 1990] had a field organization anywhere near as strong as Deval's," state party chairman Philip W. Johnston said yesterday. ``His organization reached into the precinct level in a way matched only by Michael Dukakis in 1982."
For the most part, analysts at MassVOTE said the turnout surge of 19 percent over the 2002 primary appeared to be spread across the state's 351 cities and towns.
There were a few notable spikes, including in Worcester, whose mayor, Timothy P. Murray, secured the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor. MassVOTE estimates 22,986 Democrats cast ballots in the city, compared with 15,519 in 2002.
In Reilly's hometown of Springfield, 14,844 Democrats turned out, compared with 12,098 in 2002, a 22 percent jump.
``There was an exciting primary, and people were excited about their candidates, and that draws people out," said Avi Green, executive director of MassVOTE, who also pointed out that a coalition of nonprofits have been mounting voter-turnout drives in major urban centers across the state.
In Boston, which had an estimated 8 percent jump over 2002 in Democratic primary voters, voters appeared to be energized by local races, including the still hotly contested race for state Senator Dianne Wilkerson's seat. Unofficial results yesterday showed she won by 141 votes in the sticker campaign. Those results remained in doubt as officials announced that ballots sought from eight precincts had been overlooked. The ballots were to be counted today after a judge issued an order for the ballot boxes to be unsealed.
Still, it seemed clear that the race boosted turnout. In Ward 12, which includes the heart of Wilkerson's district in Roxbury, more than 40 percent of registered voters cast ballots.
Veteran political observers said that Boston's turnout once again reflects an ongoing shift in demographics and politics in the city, from the traditional, mostly white political power centers of West Roxbury and South Boston to the immigrant- and minority-rich neighborhoods of Roxbury and Jamaica Plain.
``People have traditionally written off those neighborhoods," said Lawrence S. DiCara, a former city councilor and a longtime political observer. ``Guess what? They're not writing them off anymore."
South Boston has long been one of the city's highest-turnout neighborhoods, but in Tuesday's election, wards 6 and 7, which make up the neighborhood, ranked eighth and ninth out of 22 wards in the city with about 36 percent of registered voters casting ballots. There was higher turnout in Dorchester's Ward 17, with 39 percent, Roxbury's Ward 12, with 40.3 percent, and Jamaica Plain's Ward 19, where 45.3 percent of registered voters cast ballots. That was the highest percentage in the city. The lowest turnout was in Allston and Brighton, with about 23 percent.
``That means that the old rules don't apply," DiCara said. ``That means one can do remarkably well in South Boston or West Roxbury and still lose, because there's not enough votes in those neighborhoods anymore."
Patrick, the first African-American candidate to secure the Democratic nomination for governor, won more than 50 percent of the vote in Boston, and his victory follows wins in recent years by other nonwhite candidates in the city, including Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea Cabral, who is black, and councilors at large Felix Arroyo, a Latino, and Sam Yoon, who is Asian.
``It's not a sea change," DiCara said. ``It's a gradual progression."
Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com. 