Hicks, Linsky and Kerry Win in Primary Races

Fourth Congressional District

It will be a Tweedledee and Tweedledum race in the Fourth Congressional District as two liberals--State Rep. Martin A Linsky (R-Brookline) and Rep. Robert Driman (D-Newton)--meet at the polls in November.

Linsky won last Tuesday's four way primary in a tight race with conservative new comer Avi Nelson who ran on a platform supporting President Nixon. His campaign slogan was "I'm not afraid to be right."

Although Drinan was unopposed in the primary, he had workers at every poll on Tuesday and held a mass rally on primary night in an obvious effort to gear up his campaign for the tough November night. Drinan managed to keep himself in the public spotlight all summer as he served as the vocal leader of the Massachusetts delegation to the Democratic National Convention.

The new Fourth Congressional District, stretching from Brookline to Gardner, has 42,000 Republicans, 76,000 Democrats and a large swing vote of 82,000 independents. Twenty-three percent of the district is Jewish, with the heaviest concentrations in Brookline and Newton, a Drinan stronghold in the last Congressional race.

Linsky, who is Jewish, could sway many of the Drinan supporters in these two towns where he did very well in Tuesday's primary. In a poll taken by the Linsky staff last April. Drinan only held a ten point lead. In Brookline and Newton, the polls showed that both candidates had a third of the vote with the remainder undecided.

The Linsky forces plan to make a major effort to contact all the voters in the district before the November election. "We are relying on field organization in the campaign. The major crux of our effort will be a detailed blitz and canvass which we will aim at everyone, Democrats, Republicans, and independents," Steve Crosby, the campaign manager for Linsky, said Friday.

Originally Linsky tried to play down his party affiliation by taking a strong anti-war stance. But the primary showed a strong conservative vote in the district, and Linsky may now drift toward the right. With Drinan so closely tied in to the McGovern campaign, a strong Nixon showing in November could bring victory to Linsky.

Fifth Congressional District

In one of the most expensive primaries ever, John Kerry, a former spokesman for the Vietnam Veterans Against the War won the Democratic nomination in the Fifth Congressional district. Ten Democrats, four Republicans and one independent spent more than half a million dollars before Tuesday's primary. Kerry topped all contenders, spending a limit over $1,35,000.

The 28-year old Yale graduate will face Republican Paul Cronin of Andover in the November election. Cronin is a former aide to Congressman F. Bradford Morse and has great strength in the Andover area where he was elected its youngest selectman.

The race should be close. Although the Democrats enjoy a 56,000 advantage in registration over the Republicans, the independent vote--which totals 77,000--could be decisive if there is a strong Nixon surge in November.

Nancy Barton, Kerry's campaign treasurer, said Saturday the emphasis in the upcoming campaign will be different from that in the primary. "Last time the purpose of the campaign was to identify our supporters and get them to the polls; in November, most voters will go anyway and we have to influence the way they vote. Also the thrust of our campaign will depend on whether Cronin runs as a liberal and on how much money he gets from the Nixon administration which I'm sure doesn't want to see Kerry elected."

Kerry's chances for victory were threatened on election eve when his brother and a campaign aide were arrested in an incident reminiscent of the Watergate affair. The police charged the two with tampering with the phones in the cellar of a building which housed Kerry's campaign headquarters as well as that of one of his opponents. Kerry later told reporters that they had entered the cellar to protect his own phone lines which he claimed had been threatened earlier in the evening by an anonymous caller.

Although the incident received much press coverage the voting did not seem to be affected by it. It is possible though that the incident may become a factor in the November election.

It didn't have much impact. People were just very confused since it came so close to the election. The hearing on the case will be in October a very bad time," Barton said.

Ninth Congressional District

Although losing her home precinct, Rep. Louise Day Hicks (D-Boston) has obviously not lost her appeal as she won a smashing victory over five opponents in the Ninth Congressional District's Democratic primary last Tuesday.

In November she will face Republican candidate Howard Miller and Boston City Councilman John J. Moakley, who bypassed the Democratic primary to run as an independent in the general election. Because the new district--which extends from Dover St. in Roxbury to Dover, an upper middle class suburb--is heavily Democratic. Miller should not be much of a threat. Moakley, who won last year's City Council race with 94,000 votes, is expected to be a dangerous challenger.

In the 1970 primary Hicks defeated Moakley by 5000 votes although Moakley claims he would have won if David Nelson, a black candidate, had not divided the anti-Hicks vote.

This year, Hicks won the primary by a three to two margin over second place finisher Senator Robert Cawley (D-W. Roxbury) who masterminded the redistricting in the State House. Although Cawley drew the Congressional district boundaries to include most of his present district, he could only manage 26 per cent of the vote to Hicks's 39 per cent. The third place finisher. James W. Hennigan, the Boston School Committee chairman, did poorly, getting 21 per cent of the vote.

Although predicting Hicks would win, political analysts were surprised by her overwhelming victory, since her two strongholds. Dorchester and South Boston, were cut out of the district in the reapportionment.

Two black candidates fared poorly in the race. Newton resident Hubert H. Jones, the most liberal of the candidates, placed fourth with 8068 votes, largely outdistancing Melvin Miller, publisher of the Bay State Banner, who received 1592 votes.

Second Middlesex District-Senate

The old politics continued to prevail in the Second Middlesex District, as State Senator Francis X. McCann (D-Cambridge) swept to victory against four opponents in Tuesday's Democratic primary.

The district, which includes Harvard Square and much of Cambridge, also takes in Belmont. Waltham and parts of Allston and Brighton. McCann's main opponent Cambridge School Committeeman David Wylie, ran 2237 votes behind the incumbent, in unofficial returns. Two years earlier Wylie lost to McCann by 1800 votes. McCann seems certain of re-election as he faces only token Republican opposition in November.

John Hogan '73, mounted an aggressive campaign, yet failed to produce a sizable vote anywhere except in his home area Allston-Brighton. Hogan carried Ward 22 in that area by about 1000 votes over McCann and Wylie, but trailed far behind in the other parts of the district. In Cambridge, Hogan only got 553 votes to 5221 for McCann and 3701 for Wylie.

As it has in the past, McCann's base of support in North Cambridge turned out for him. In the 11th Ward, for example, McCann got 1536 votes to only 313 for Wylie. Hogan, who has many relatives who grew up in North Cambridge, only could manage 128 votes in the 11th Ward.

From the way his concession speech sounded Tuesday night, it doesn't seem likely that Wylie will ever choose to do battle with McCann again. Wylie will have to face Hogan's brother today at 9:30 a.m. in Brighton District Court. A hearing will be held at that time on Joseph Hogan's complaint that Wylie assaulted him two Saturday's ago while he was campaigning at a Brighton Shopping center.

First Middlesex District-Representative

City Councillor and former Mayor Alfred Vellucci, running on a pledge to end Harvard's tax-exempt status in Cambridge, fell short last Tuesday in his bid for a seat in the State Legislature.

Incumbent State Representatives Michael J. Lombardi and John J. Toomey were re-elected in the First Middlesex District's Democratic primary, despite the challenge from Vellucci and two liberal candidates. Michael J. Amato and Doreen Blanc. The two winners will face only token opposition in November.

Lombardi led the balloting, taking 2585 votes. Toomey ran 220 votes behind Lombardi, with Vellucci just missing the second spot by 274 votes.

Vellucci was beaten in his own backyard, Ward 2, by both Lombardi and Toomey, offsetting the Councillor's solid showing in Ward 1. Lombardi swept Ward 1 with 1448 votes, followed by Vellucci with 1109 and Toomey with 878.

Toomey retained his seat by piling up a 505-vote margin over Vellucci in Wards 2, 3, and 4.

Some observers had believed that Lombardi would be hurt by a gambling conviction last December, but instead the four-term representative topped the ticket. Commenting on the reasons for his victory. Lombardi said Friday: "I'm around all the time and I always answer my mail and telephone calls....we did a lot of work."