An open seat in Brighton

28 January 2005

Tim Schofield was gearing up. After helping a friend run a losing campaign against Brighton state Rep. Brian Golden, he decided to take on the incumbent himself. The three-term rep, nominally a Democrat but - after endorsing George W. Bush in both 2000 and 2004 - a Republican in the eyes of most everyone, was politically out of sync with his more left-leaning district. Two years before the scheduled 2006 election, Schofield had money in the bank, strong support and the makings of a good field operation.

And then Golden resigned, taking a job offered him by Gov. Mitt Romney.

You would think Schofield, a self-styled "old-fashioned progressive," would have the edge. But special elections are different. Turnout is lower (probably a scant 3,000 will vote). The compressed campaign (the primary is March 15) gives candidates little time to make themselves known. And this district, comprised of much of Allston and Brighton as well as a sliver of Brookline, is beset by institutional pressures from land-hungry Harvard University, Boston College and Boston University. Thus, local concerns matter most - -especially to the hard-core voters. That gives the edge to candidates the voters already know. A Brighton resident for only three years, Schofield is at a disadvantage.

Three others as well have jumped into the Democratic primary (in this district, the GOP primary is irrelevant). Greg Glennon, age 30 and a Brighton resident since 1998, positions himself as Golden's heir. A lawyer, he worked for Golden in the State House and has similarly conservative views - pro-life and anti-gay marriage. Like Golden, he is also something of a Republican in Democratic clothing; three years ago, he almost filed as a Republican to run against U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano. Glennon now calls that a mistake - "I wish I hadn't done it" - and points out that (unlike his boss) he backed John Kerry for president.

Joe Walsh, at 26 the youngest in the race, has a well-known father - dad handles community relations for Boston University - and hews to ideology somewhere between Schofield and Glennon. He's pro- choice and supports gay marriage (and, like all the candidates, opposes capital punishment). But where Schofield talks about spending more on health care and education, Walsh focuses on quality- of-life issues. While acknowledging he would represent a ideological break from Golden, Walsh admires Golden's commitment to constituents - a commitment that kept the state rep safe in his seat even when most disagreed with him - and seeks to emulate it.

Michael Moran, age 33, is the one to beat, however. He shares Walsh's politics and attention to local concerns, but has far more experience. Moran ran for the seat twice before - in 1994, while still in college, and then in 1998, when he lost by just 89 votes to Golden. The latter race, featuring a large field, should have been Moran's. "Golden mobilized the right while the rest of us were cutting each other up," he says. A lifetime and active Brighton resident, Moran retains a network of supporters. He is thoughtful; he discusses in detail, for example, his evolution from a supporter of capital punishment to an opponent. Yet, like Walsh, he argues that concerns such as Harvard's expansion or the archdiocese's plans to shut down Our Lady of the Presentation School worry voters more.

As with each of the candidates, Moran is door knocking. He believes, probably correctly, that such grassroots efforts will drive the election results, and he vows not to be outdone. "When you lose by 89 votes," he says, "You work."