No surprises expected in Boston mayoral race
Mayor Martin J. Walsh and Tito Jackson both promised to pull out all the stops today to bring voters to the polls — despite predictions of a low turnout — with Jackson promising an upset despite being down by more than 30 percentage points in the polls.
“I don’t know what you call it, but I do believe we’ll shock the city of Boston . ... I believe the people of Boston will come out to have their voice heard,” Jackson said. “Your voice is your vote and we want to make sure that Boston screams loudly.”
The yearlong battle between Walsh and Jackson ends today, with turnout expected to be about 20 percent of the city’s 450,000 registered voters.
And Walsh holds a mas- sive lead over Jackson — with the most recent polls showing him at a 35-point advantage — and took 62 percent of the vote to Jackson’s 29 percent in September’s preliminary election, when 14 percent of voters came to the polls.
But Walsh said he would campaign hard until the end.
“I’m not taking it for granted, we’re not taking it for granted at all,” Walsh said at an endorsement event in Jamaica Plain yesterday. “In the polls we have a nice comfortable lead but for me it’s not about that, it’s about getting turnout up there, it’s about pushing, it’s about seeing how I do in the neighborhoods.”
Walsh said his campaign knocked on 65,000 doors last weekend and has made 900,000 phone calls since the preliminary election, and that his campaign would continue reaching out with standouts, calls and online reminders to get people to the polls.
“We need to get people out to vote, not so much to vote for me but to get people out voting in the election, it’s an important aspect of life and democracy,” Walsh said.
Jackson said his campaign would also be door-knocking, phoning and texting potential voters and said increased visibility of two debates since the preliminary gave him access to a wider audience — and more potential supporters.
“People have been able to do the Pepsi challenge, they’re able to see there’s an alternative in the city of Boston,” Jackson said. “The pollsters, pundits and papers won’t decide the race, it will be the people.”
But pundits agreed: Walsh will be the likely victor.
“Marty knows who his regular voters are, he has a finely-tuned machine,” said former City Councilor Larry DiCara. “I don’t expect any surprises.”
Former City Councilor Michael McCormack said: “Walsh will have a 35-point win. It’s all about getting the vote out and really only the Walsh campaign has the sort of manpower to do that.”