Article on Kerry and his staff supporting Ayanna Pressley for re-election

[karynnj]

City Councilor Ayanna Pressley, in a tight battle for her political life, is getting a big push from Washington, D.C., from her former boss, Sen. John F. Kerry.

“My staff is helping her out on their time, and I’m totally in favor of it,” Kerry told the Herald last night from Washington. “Ayanna is family. She’s enormously capable and talented.”
<snip>
When it’s crunch time, you call upon your family and friends. This is my family,” Pressley said. “I worked for Sen. Kerry for 11 years and developed some very strong friendships. He really has been a tremendous personal support to me for as long as I’ve known him.”

Kerry recently visited Pressley’s headquarters to give volunteers and staff a morale boost. The senator said he already “proudly” voted for his former aide via absentee ballot.

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view/2011_1105pressley_gets_help_from_ex-boss_kerry/

[Mass]

1. I hope she will win, but it is a really tight election.

[karynnj]

2. with 99.6% in, she is the top vote getter by a 2000 vote margin!

Here is the link - http://www.cityofboston.gov/elections/currentelections/

AYANNA S PRESSLEY 37390 21.42%
FELIX G ARROYO 35361 20.26%
JOHN R CONNOLLY 32709 18.74%
STEPHEN J MURPHY 26624 15.25%
MICHAEL F FLAHERTY 25710 14.73%
WILL DORCENA 8692 4.98%
SEAN H RYAN 7358 4.22%
Write-in Votes 686 0.39%

[Mass]

3. Once again, the media guessing game fell short.

She is getting nice reviews in the media.

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/politics/view/2011_1109pressleyrolls_in_hubs_council_race_flaherty_falls_short_as_murphy_holds_his_seat/

Boston City Councilor Ayanna S. Pressley — the board’s first black woman — was said to be in danger of losing her seat, but topped the ticket over six other candidates vying for four at-large Council seats, while former mayoral challenger Michael F. Flaherty’s bid to return to City Hall fell short.
...
“I’m very proud of her,” Kerry said last night. “It speaks to the strength of her character under tough circumstances. Her (late) mother is beaming with pride in Heaven.”

http://www.wbur.org/2011/11/09/boston-election-results-2

But the headliner was the race for the four at-large seats, and Ayanna Pressley surprised everyone, even herself, by being the top vote-getter in the at-large race.

Pressley, who’s a former aide to Sen. John Kerry, sees her re-election victory as a validation of her agenda.

“Sen. Kerry taught me that when it’s right to keep it right and when it’s wrong to make it right, and that’s the role of government, and the fact that I have another opportunity to continue to do just that…it’s awesome,” she said.

Pressley summarizes her work as “eradicating poverty and ending cycles of violence.”
Her victory defied the speculation that she was the most vulnerable candidate for the at-large seats.
...

Of course, the Globe focuses on Flaherty losing and Baker winning. Sigh. no comments.

[karynnj]

4. It is rather sad that the Globe did not cover her as much as she deserved

Her comments and Kerry's are as inspiring and heart warming as any victory comments I have ever read. I love her use of Kerry's comment in the different context which broadens it to speak of the role of government. She does carve out an extraordinarily difficult goal for herself. It made me think of your comment in the supercommittee thread on how few politicians and other people on the left actually speak of the poor.

It is rather amazing that the pundits got the race so wrong, though it may indicate the power of a sincere personal endorsement from Boston's favorite Senator to get people to look seriously at what she brings to the council.

[Mass]

5. LOL, I was not the only one noticing the lack of coverage of Pressley's impressive election

http://bostonglobe.com/opinion/letters/2011/11/10/come-globe-show-you-not-biased/FcUEP7FI2NK2GdhIgOveHP/story.html

STEREOTYPES ABOUT Boston: provincial, elitist, racist. Will the Globe’s coverage reinforce or rebut them?

Strike one: The celebration of the opening of the new Ashmont MBTA station, serving 17,000 riders and capping decades of struggle for transportation equity on the Red Line, draws the attention of senior politicians such as Senator John Kerry and Governor Deval Patrick. The Globe’s T coverage? Replacement shuttle service on the Cambridge end of the Red Line.

Strike two: A talented, charismatic African-American woman, Ayanna Pressley, tops the at-large race for Boston City Council. The Globe’s initial election coverage? A front-page story the next day focusing on Michael F. Flaherty’s loss.


Next pitch?

We’re watching.

Jenny Moye

Dorchester

I guess that they got a lot of complaint, because she is on the frontpage today.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2011/11/10/hard-work-pays-off-for-pressley-city-council-election/dyPNS3Qf1LqrGsxS32eIuK/story.html

with this article (first paragraph only as it is the only thing the globe lets you see

Hard work pays off for Pressley in City Council election

Pressley’s perceived constituency widens in at-large council win

By Andrew Ryan | GLOBE STAFF NOVEMBER 10, 2011
Ayanna Pressley’s meteoric rise and first place finish in Tuesday’s City Council election can be traced to a groundswell of support that in many neighborhoods transcended race and traditional politics, capturing votes from Dorchester to Back Bay. In all, Pressley placed first in more than half of Boston’s 22 wards. She dominated in the African American community, winning 85 percent of the vote in the Roxbury ward that includes Dudley Square. But she also placed first in the section of the city that encompasses much of Jamaica Plain and Roslindale. And Pressley, who is black, took second in largely white West Roxbury, capturing 53 percent of the vote there.

...

[politicasista]

6. Congrats and best wishes to her

Glad she pulled it out and proved the naysayers wrong. Don't have a dog or cat in local MA politics, but there has been a lot of talk about the political landscape in Beantown being more diverse, though there may be a long way to go. This is a start. And thanks to the Senator's team for helping out on the ground. She seems have learned from the best.