Councilor Sal LaMattina dominated the vote in last Tuesday’s municipal election – and he had no opponent.
He received 1,748 votes in a very light local turnout.
In the At-Large race, which was the only significant race on the ballot for local voters, Eastie went for John Connolly, Felix Arroyo, Michael Flaherty, Stephen Murphy and Ayanna Pressley in that order.
Flaherty, of course, did not make it. His comeback was thwarted by Murphy’s citywide effort.
Pressley, the only woman in the race would have finished out of the money if she was only running in East Boston.
It is hard to understand how she could have done so poorly in East Boston except to say she is not very well known and the others are.
Be that as it may, East Boston balloting overall was a huge disappointment to those who had expected a much higher turnout.
As for Councilor LaMattina’s dominance – this was expected.
He has shown skill and acumen in working with Mayor Thomas Menino.
As a result, Eastie has more clout at Boston City Hall than it has had in years.
And there is considerable talk about LaMattina’s city council president possibilities in the future, something he himself will not speak of.
The voters have spoken.
It was the ultimate verdict.
For the less than 20% who came out – thank you.