If news reports prove correct and Speaker of the Massachusetts House of Representatives Robert A. DeLeo announces his retirement, it won’t be a surprise.
The man who weathered 100 political firestorms in the toughest job any elected official can hold in Massachusetts can’t be faulted for appreciating the symmetry involved in retiring in 2020 at the age of 70 from a 30-year legislative career.
My Daily Item career’s timeline roughly paralleled DeLeo’s career: As a young reporter in 1990, I covered his campaign for the House district straddling Revere and Winthrop during a year that saw political newcomers, especially Republicans, throw their hat in the proverbial ring and seek election.
DeLeo brought smarts and tenacity to the 1990 race. He ran for state representative in 1988 but lost to incumbent state Rep. Alfred E. Saggese, Jr. by fewer than 100 votes.
That loss was a double blow to DeLeo: He was not only defeated by Saggese by a narrow margin; he also lost Winthrop where he had built up a solid political résumé as a Town Meeting member and Board of Selectmen chairman.
Saggese decided not to run in 1990 and DeLeo was primed and ready to defeat two fellow Democrats from Winthrop and Revere.
The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority’s (MWRA) big trucks rumbling through town and its construction projects made the agency few friends in Winthrop, and DeLeo, who practiced law in Revere, helped draft a multi-million dollar settlement between Winthrop and the MWRA.
He campaigned hard in 1990 and won the Democratic primary, garnering more than twice as many votes in Winthrop as his two opponents combined.
An easy final election win over a Republican opponent set DeLeo on that perilous path to the summit of Massachusetts’ politics.
Climbers like to say Mount Everest may be the world’s tallest mountain, but its neighbor, K2, is the toughest to climb. Truer words could not be written about the Massachusetts House speakership.
The late Thomas W. McGee of Lynn held the speakership in an iron grip only to face challenge and defeat from erstwhile ally George Keverian, whose exit from the speakership was followed by three scandal-plagued successors.
DeLeo never made a misstep on his 19-year climb to the top. He knew how to identify his allies and keep them close. He practiced a mantra of thinking before speaking and making sure action quickly followed his words.
He kept the bloodthirsty State House press corps (I was a member for three years) at bay and moved smartly and swiftly, understanding that the best defense is an offense, when it came to repelling federal prosecutors seeking to burnish their careers.
The political expert I most admire — my wife — summed up DeLeo’s success perfectly when she said, “He has great staff.” DeLeo surrounded himself with the right people and he kept the competing human desires of loyalty and power balanced so that the best people served the highest callings when it came to the speakership.
It’s not a surprise DeLeo might be contemplating retirement. The bigger surprise will come if and when someone steps forward who can actually fill his shoes.
Thor Jourgensen can be reached at [email protected].
