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Michlewitz wins 3rd Suffolk seat by Brandon Simes
Managing EditorTuesday Jun 16, 2009 After a campaign that started the day his former boss decided to leave public office, the first to announce his candidacy and the general frontrunner in today’s 3rd Suffolk state rep. seat, North Ender Aaron Michlewitz, has declared victory.
Michlewitz, DiMasi’s former constituent services director, beat Tremont Street resident John Keith, an independent candidate, and Beacon Hill Republican David Trumbull in the today’s special election.
The candidate hosted supporters at Filippo’s Restaurant on Causeway Street, where the announcement was made.
"Obviously we had a tough Democratic primary, a great Democratic primary," Michlewitz told South End News while a much more subdued and smaller crowd gathered than the one that greeted him after he defeated Susan Passoni by a narrow margin in the May 19 primary, although about 100 supporters did attend. "It was a great race in the final as well. I’m very proud to have won but it wasn’t just me. It was a lot of people in this room, it was a lot of people who aren’t in this room tonight that really helped me achieve my victory tonight and it’s very humbling."
Unofficial vote counts have Michlewitz storming to a decisive victory, notching over 80 percent of the vote. The turnout was particularly poor, however. The same unofficial count has the number of ballots cast at just 2,717 votes, with Michlewitz taking 80.24 percent of the vote (2,180 votes), Keith notching 15.13 percent (416 votes), and Trumbull winning 4.45 percent (121 votes).
"I would have liked to have had a better turnout," said Michlewitz. "Sometimes it’s tough to get people to turn out for a special election in the middle of June. It wasn’t even necessarily on everyone’s radar. I know all the candidates worked hard, including myself...it’s kind of scary, if we didn’t work so hard, what the numbers would actually be."
At Keith’s Tremont Street headquarters he addressed about 10-to-15 supporters at a time, but was visibly down after the loss.
"I’m feeling sad, there was a lot of people in the last three hours who came to vote. I did think there would be a bigger turnout from other neighborhoods," he said.
The jovial South Ender did crack a few jokes though.
"It was close between me and David [Trumbull]," he joked.
When At-Large City Council candidate Andrew Kenneally walked in, Keith once again made light of the situation.
"The closing period to run for councilor already passed, but if Andrew wasn’t running I’d love to also try for that position," said Keith. "I would have liked a higher turnout in my favor, but I did talk to people who were very committed. We invested all of our own money so it’s hard."
"I was planning on doing this speech at the State House but I will do it here," he added.
Keith certainly has not ruled out an activist career in the future, based on further comments he made to supporters.
"The issues that I believe in did not translate well to political transcript. Outside politics, I can get done what I want to," he said.
Tomorrow, he joked, he already has plans in New York, but members of his campaign staff felt that Keith had done a good job given the odds he faced as an independent against a formidable opponent, and that the campaign was worth celebrating.
"I thought we made history here, on his first try it was very impressive," said Keith’s communications director Meghan Donovan.
Keith said he wishes his opponent, the victor, well.
"He [Michlewitz] has the time to get things done and prove people wrong on what people think government is, and he has a lot to do and promises to keep, so I wish him luck," said Keith.
After addressing the crowd, Keith told South End News that the campaign has helped him grow, referencing his complicated decision to release his HIV-positive status during the campaign.
"I did have high hopes," said Keith. "At points I’m very critical of myself and at other points I’m very positive, but I put my staff through a lot, fighting over the issues to address, for example. It wasn’t just a regular race. I’m a very different person now than I was three months ago. I am more comfortable now expressing myself and this has been personal growth."
Jake Seiner and Bessie King contributed to this report.
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