Victory signals a new era in county

The odds seemed to be in his favor, but in the end voters decided against Stephen J. Murphy, the Boston city councilor described by his rival, Suffolk County Sheriff Andrea J. Cabral, as a "serial office-seeker."

They were tired of seeing his name on the ballot nearly every year, observers said, and weren't sure why they should help him unseat an incumbent who had won the backing of key Democrats and grass-roots groups.

"People got fed up with a person running for office every year, always looking for another opportunity," said Suffolk County Register of Probate Richard Iannella, a former city councilor. "That's what put Andrea Cabral over the top."

George Regan, a former press secretary to former mayor Kevin H. White, said Murphy was vulnerable after yesterday's defeat. He predicted an easy win for White's daughter, Patricia, next year. "He's ripe for the picking," said Regan, who is working for Patricia White, who plans to run for City Council again after her narrow defeat last year. "In Boston politics, no one has run a worse campaign than Stephen Murphy. He's run for every office except president of the United States."

Cabral painted the race as an epic struggle between the career politician and the anti-pol. Cabral, who rode into town to clean up the scandals left by her predecessor, sought to convince voters that she was the antithesis of a politician. "Public service . . . not politics," was the message of her most recent mailing.

What Murphy excelled at, she did poorly.

By all appearances, she didn't do the things that have traditionally won city elections, expecially low turnout primaries -- bang on doors, identify her vote early, or press political leaders for help.

Although the city's black elected leaders enthusiastically supported her, she never fully cultivated some of the most powerful leaders in the minority community -- the black clergy, according to some black activists. Nor did she solicit support from key elected officials -- until the final weeks of the campaign. Her campaign was marked by missteps and bad choices that could have proved fatal.

She switched to the Democratic party -- after becoming a Republican to win the appointment from GOP Governor Jane Swift. That forced yesterday's runoff, making it harder for her to hold onto her job. Had she run as an Independent, she would have faced Murphy in November, when the turnout will probably be larger and perhaps more liberal. Primaries in Boston have traditionally favored more conservative candidates, like Murphy.

After changing parties, a series of gaffes followed. She didn't pay a required contribution to the employees' pension fund, and failed to let returning veterans accrue benefits for the time they were away. Later in the race, she launched a public service campaign with taxpayer money -- ads that were pulled when Murphy complained they were too political.

She staunchly defended these practices. She broke no laws, and had good reasons for what she did, she said. Murphy seized the opportunity to attack and attack again.

But when key Democrats like Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, and state Senate President Robert Travaglini last week jumped into the race and offered their endorsements, it looked like she might pull off a win.

Several voters yesterday said Cabral represented change, while Murphy was business as usual.

"I heard what she was saying, and it made sense," said Edward Skinner, 31, of Roxbury. "She's sincere and is doing a good job of building the system back up. She has stopped the drug trafficking [in the jails]."

The city's changing demographics meant a nonpolitician could beat a politician. Cabral did well in traditional conservative strongholds, as well as in liberal wards. Her appeal was not confined to minority neighborhoods.

"When Cabral is beating him in West Roxbury precincts, which used to be conservative Irish Catholic, it's a new day, a new generation," said Iannella.

Said former city councilor Larry DiCara: "The demographic changes, which had been limited to certain neighborhoods, have extended now to most of them. You have folks in Hyde Park, Roslindale, West Roxbury, and certainly in Jamaica Plain who are white people, but they're different from the white people who may have lived here a generation ago. To people who were born in Syracuse or Sheboygan, it doesn't much matter how many years you served in the City Council, where you go to church, or who your father was. Andrea tried to sell herself as the nonpolitician, the professional. The numbers suggest that strategy was effective."

Globe correspondents Heather Allen and Benjamin Gedan contributed to this report.