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Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea J. Cabral (right) gets a hug from a supporter upon her arrival at the Hampshire House on Beacon Street for her victory party.
(Globe Staff Photo / Bill Greene) |
Cabral triumphs in sheriff's raceDefeats Murphy to retain her postSheriff Andrea J. Cabral, the first African-American woman to hold a Suffolk County office and the state's first female sheriff, soundly defeated Boston City Councilor Stephen J. Murphy last night to retain her post.
With all precincts reporting, Cabral led Murphy 60 percent to 40 percent. Cabral's victory appeared to be the latest illustration of the nascent political might of Boston's black and Hispanic communities and the increasing willingness of white voters to elect minority candidates. Many doubted that Cabral could overcome a well-connected white opponent such as Murphy, but as Councilor Felix D. Arroyo did last year, she seemed to have ridden a coalition of minorities and white liberals to victory.
''It was the turnout of people in communities of color that did it for me," Cabral said in her victory speech last night. ''The people decided to vote for leadership." There is no Republican candidate, so Cabral's victory in the Democratic primary means that she will remain sheriff. Acting Governor Jane M. Swift appointed her to the post in 2002. The outcome also means that Murphy will remain on the City Council and that Patricia H. White, the daughter of former mayor Kevin H. White who finished fifth in last year's race for the four at-large City Council seats, will not replace him. White, who said last night she wasn't following the sheriff's race, promised another run for the council in 2005. The Cabral-Murphy race split the City Council and prompted a slew of high-profile endorsements, with Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, and Senate President Robert E. Travaglini throwing their weight behind Cabral in the closing days of the campaign. Murphy was backed by US Representative Stephen F. Lynch of South Boston and the Rev. Eugene Rivers, a well-known leader in Boston's black community . There were also 39 contested primaries for State House and Senate seats yesterday, several of them in the Boston area. In the Eighth Suffolk District -- a district that includes part of Cambridge, but is mainly composed of the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, and the West End -- Marty Walz, 43 and a lawyer and vice president of a literacy and mentoring program for at-risk preschoolers, defeated Kristine Glynn, 34 and a former legislative aide, winning about 75 percent of the vote, according to preliminary returns. In the 26th Middlesex District, which includes parts of Cambridge and Somerville, Representative Timothy J. Toomey narrowly defeated challenger Avi Green, a 30-year-old graduate of Harvard's Kennedy School. The fight for Suffolk County sheriff was the area's most hotly contested campaign. The sheriff's position is widely viewed as a political plum, coming with a $107,000 salary, a $90 million budget, a six-year term, and the opportunity to cultivate a powerful political base among the roughly 1,100 employees at the Suffolk House of Correction and Nashua Street Jail. Continued... |
