The Prizblog

22,461 registered voters took to the polls in Newton a week ago to vote on mayoral, aldermanic and school committee races across the city.  The election not only ushered in a new era in Newton politics, but it also represented a culmination of, in some cases, a lifetime’s ambition, and in other cases, a year of tireless work.  And for all of this effort, in the end, there were winners and losers.

WINNERS

Deb Shah – To be honest, I’m still confused as to what her title was with Setti Warren’s campaign.  Campaign strategist?  Consultant?  Whatever.  She was both the brains and the brawn behind Setti’s grassroots strategy.  Setti’s strategy was markedly different from Rep. Balser’s, which relied on press releases, institutional support from local Democratic heavy hitters, and a daunting campaign war-chest.  Deb took a guy with little money and a funny name and made him mayor. After shepherding both State Representative Sonia Chang Diaz and Setti Warren to victory, there may not be a hotter or more talented political strategist in the state.

Alderman Ted Hess-Mahan – What Deb Shah brought to the Warren camp in terms of campaign strategy, Ted matched with his intimate knowledge of Newton’s issues, performance management policy, and the local political scene.  Trent from Swingers would call him, “The guy behind the guy, behind the guy.”  I was present at more than one meeting where I thought, “Man, Ted could easily run for mayor and win.”  He was invaluable.  If Ruth Balser or Ken Parker ever scratch their heads and wonder how they lost to Setti Warren, really they should know that in some ways, they lost to Ted Hess-Mahan.

Claire Sokoloff – Aside from actually, you know, winning her race against perhaps the best of the “challengers” to the school committee incumbents in Olivia Mathews, Claire may well be the favorite to succeed as School Committee Chair.

Emily Norton – Yes, her “slate” of school committee candidates lost.  But she didn’t.  Like it or not, Emily Norton is now a player.  She, and her slate, will be back.  The question is:  what lessons will she take from this loss?  That she wasn’t “loud” enough, or that politics requires a little more finesse?  Time will tell.

Amy Sangiolo - She stayed out of a race she was sure to lose, remained neutral after the preliminary, and has positioned herself to be Ken Parker to Setti Warren’s David Cohen for what are sure to be four financially difficult years in Newton.  An ”Amy Sangiolo 2013″  mayoral campaign looks fairly certain at this point.

The TAB Blog – You have to hand it to them, Gail Spector and Greg Reibman ran quite a show over there for the past year.  I suspect that the Blog wasn’t quite the kingmaker that Greg hoped it would be, and the Newton’s Next Mayor blog flopped, but in terms of being the premier on-line community forum, the TAB Blog was it.

Traditional Reformists – The Trad Reformists had a great day on November 3.  Balser and Warren trumpeted the CAG report, as well as performance management in the service of Newton’s traditionalist liberal values centered on education, and community services.  They also saw nearly all of their candidates elected, with only Sue Flicop losing out to Matt Hills.  And Hills isn’t exactly Anti-Establishment either.  He simply brings a much needed private out-look to a school committee accustomed to doing things a certain way.

The Prizblog – Obviously.

LOSERS

Geoff Epstein- Geoff had a bad relationship with his fellow school committee members before the campaigning started.  It only got worse when he actively campaigned to have most of them replaced.  Now that his gambit failed, Geoff is on an island.  Before you get huffy and remind me about how democracy is supposed to work , remember this:  We elected Geoff to be an advocate for his cause in our schools.  How has this affected his ability to reach out, effect change, and be a credible advocate that his peers will want to listen to and work with? 

Jeff Seideman – Greater Newton has once again rejected Angry Newton’s ambassador.  That’s twice now.  Counting the override and the high school referendum, he’s 1-3.

Lisle Baker – Unlike Alderman Sangiolo, who had nothing to lose by staying neutral and cultivating her base of support, Traditionalist Lisle Baker is now faced with an in-coming administration that he didn’t exactly oppose, but chose not to support, along with five new aldermen, and a shrinking base of support for his presidency.

Newton 20/20 – The group that was going to redefine politics in the city is left to consult their David Osborne how-to manuals.  The Anti-Establishment Reformists were dealt somewhat of a surprising blow.  Particularly surprising to them, it seems.  That’s what happens when you read too much of the Newton TAB blog.  You start to forget that people really like it here.

Shawn Fitzgibbons – Ken Parker’s campaign manager.  The “Blueprint” strategy fizzled, and when Ken was out, he endorsed Ruth.  Then Ruth lost.  But that’s not what get’s him into this category.  It was the absolutely senseless, strangley xenophobic message coming from Shawn and the Parker campaign early on that monetary contributions to candidates coming from outside of the city were something to fear.  As though young black professionals around Boston, who were psyched about Setti’s candidacy, were somehow evil interlopers.  And this from a guy who is involved in the Newton Democratic City Committee – a Committee that actively encourages its volunteers to go out-of-state to campaign for Democratic Congressmen and Senators.  A committee that also actively encourages those volunteers to give money to out-of-state causes and candidates.  Dumb.  So, so dumb.

Bill Brandel - Poor Bill.  In retrospect, choosing to forgoe his incumbent Ward 5 Alderman position to run for the Ward 5 Alderman-At-Large spot against Deb Crossley, and incumbent Brian Yates, was a politcally terrible idea.  It would have been much easier to defend as an incumbent against John Rice in the Ward Alderman race.  Bill was well respected for his work as Ward 5′s alderman, and there was simply no political upside to being an Alderman-At-Large as opposed to just being a Ward Alderman.  Once elected, the job is precisely the same.  Now, you can argue that maybe it shouldn’t be.  But you could also argue that Bill Brandel would still be an alderman had he not decided to make a move with no upside, and a lot of downside.

Word on the street is that Bill simply didn’t campaign as hard as Crossley and Yates did.  In a citywide At-Large race, you need some type of base of support to have a shot.  Crossley had a lot of activists that liked her, and respected her work in affordable housing.  Yates was an incumbent, and has a fiercely devoted following of longtime residents.  Bill?  Stripped of his incumbency, he was kind of the odd-man out.  Had he run a better campaign, he might have made the case for himself as everyone’s second favorite candidate in that race.  In a three person race for two seats, that would have sealed a victory for him.

I’m not buying into the theory espoused by some that Bill abandoned his base to support Setti Warren.  Much of his base ended up in the same place, and many of Warren’s supporters, myself included, voted for Bill.    Personally, I hope he’s back for more in two years.  In this respect only, you might put “Newton” in the loser category as well.