Malia triumphs in J.P. House seat race

Malia triumphs in J.P. House seat race

David G. Yosifon

The youthful optimism that powered Tomas Gonzalez' bid to become the only Latino in the state Legislature slammed into the cold reality of Boston city politics last Tuesday as Liz Malia, the Democratic establishment candidate, was elected in the 11th Suffolk district with nearly 70 percent of the vote.

Malia will succeed her former boss, John McDonough, for whom she worked on Beacon Hill as chief of staff for nine years before McDonough stepped down late last year to take a professorship at Boston College, prompting Tuesday's special election and Malia's candidacy.

Gonzalez, 27, had pinned his hopes for victory on the more than 2,000 Latino voters in the district, which covers Jamaica Plain, as well as parts of Roxbury, Dorchester, and Roslindale, but on election day Gonzalez was able to pick up only 449 votes, losing in all but one of the district's seventeen precincts.

As the polls closed Tuesday night though, Gonzalez looked and talked more like a man at the beginning of a campaign than at the end of one. Surrounded by more than 100 friends, family members, and volunteers at his campaign headquarters on Seaver Street in Jamaica Plain, Gonzales pledged to continue working to engage Boston's Latino community in the city's political life.

"This was never just about this election, this is part of a movement to get Latinos organized and involved in the political process," Gonzalez said.

"The important thing is not whether we won or lost today, but what we can do to continue the energy and interest that this campaign generated."

Gonzalez' campaign manager, Juan Tennyson, a 25-year veteran of political campaigns in Boston's communities of color, said that despite the miserable election-day turnout, the Gonzalez campaign took crucial steps toward establishing a viable political infrastructure among Latinos.

"It was beautiful. We really motivated this community," Tennyson said.

"What we are doing is building our own political machine. We just need certain other components to come together and we will be successful."

Tennyson said the Gonzalez campaign was able to attract support -- both money and volunteers -- from Latinos all over the state. Without the benefit of an elaborate party structure of wards and committees, which Malia as a Democratic insider was able to use effectively, Tennyson said the campaign relied on a very public presence: standing with signs and passing out literature each morning at Egelston square, knocking on doors, and visiting church and community groups.

"We also had strong support from the Latino media. Anybody that listens to Spanish radio or watches Spanish television got to hear Tomas' message," Tennyson said.

Though they are the single largest and the fastest growing minority group in Massachusetts, there has not been a Latino in the state legislature since Nelson Merced, who was the first, left in 1992.

Latino political activists will now turn their attention from Jamaica Plain to Cambridge, where another young Latino, Jarrett Barrios, 30, is running to unseat state Rep. Alvin Thompson in the 28th Middlesex District.

Thompson, who is one of just eight blacks in the state Legislature, is considered by many political observers to be vulnerable to a primary challenge and Cantabrigians are bracing for what some observers fear could become a tug of war between black and Latino activists over who will represent the predominantly white Cambridge district.

Back in Jamaica Plain, representative-elect Liz Malia has become as scarce as she was available during the campaign, when her rapid response team would flood inquiring reporters with quotes, faxes, and phone calls.

Since election day though, Malia's Centre Street headquarters have been bolted shut, and while she thanks the electorate for their support on her answering machine, repeated phone calls from the Banner requesting comments about her immediate plans for the district were not returned.

Photo (Tomas Gonzalez with family members and volunteers)