Observers: State reps have influence in mayor race

LYNN – They refused to give life this spring to speculation about possible runs for mayor, but look to state representatives Steven Walsh and Robert Fennell to play low key but respected roles as the election season unfolds, said local political observers.”You look at our delegation – they’re all well-respected and well liked – what they say will have an influence,” said former City Council President Robert Tucker.Talk about potential mayoral runs by Walsh or Fennell never broke out of the rumor stage, even as Mayor Judith Flanagan Kennedy and her challenger, Council President Timothy Phelan, organized their campaigns.Walsh’s uncle and Lynn attorney James Smith said both men “would have been very powerful candidates.””I think either one of them would have won,” Smith said.Walsh and Fennell could not be reached for comment Friday, but Smith and former Councilor at large Loretta Cuffe O’Donnell said Walsh’s growing family and Fennell’s concerns about dividing his time between his business, Capitol Diner, and the city’s steered both away from mayoral runs.”Steve and Bob are very different candidates. One had significant family considerations that, in the end, weighed significantly on the final decision,” Smith said.Don’t look for either man or, for that matter, state Sen. Thomas M. McGee “to come out full blast and help Phelan or Kennedy,” Cuffe O’Donnell said.”If they are going to have influence, it’s going to be very quiet,” she said.Tucker served on the council from 1976 to 1990 and said there is no modern historic precedent for a local legislator to get actively involved in municipal politics.”They have to work with whoever gets elected: It just doesn’t make common sense to them,” he said.But the three observers said another political force will play a prominent role in this year’s election.”Different groups and coalitions can have an influence if they get organized and if they can get out the vote,” Tucker said.He pointed to how “a certain number of coalitions centered around” Councilor at large Hong Net in 2011 and propelled him to an election win.It counts 30 active members, but community organization Neighbor to Neighbor has a list of 4,000 Lynn residents it reaches out to on job creation, public school improvement and other campaigns. Organizer Lissy Romanow said Neighbor to Neighbor helped provide “broad community support” for School Committeewoman Maria Carrasco’s election.”I think that people in the community trust us. We get out and have conversations with people. We play a role as a trusted ally in the community. We can have a huge impact in a race,” Romanow said.Cuffe O’Donnell said local organizations, including the North Shore Labor Council and the Highlands Coalition, fought last year to get U.S. Rep. John Tierney re-elected. As a non-profit organization, Highlands Coalition will not endorse candidates this fall, but member Leslie Greenberg said her years of involvement with community organizations will prompt people to ask her views on the mayors race and other contest.”I will tell people, ?Study up on both candidates,'” she said.