Boston Picks Mayoral Finalists Today

Boston's mayoral candidates yesterday transformed the city's annual Columbus Day parade into an orgy of politicking as they attempted to shore up support for today's nonpartisan preliminary election.

Today's vote will narrow to two a field of eight candidates, with the survivors meeting in a November run-off. A ninth contender, Robert R. Kiley, withdrew from the race last month, but his name will appear on the ballot.

The election will be the official beginning of the end of Boston's love-hate relationship with Mayor Kevin H. White, who announced in May he would not seek an unprecedented fifth term.

White emerged from a similarly large field 16 years ago, and campaign strategists are predicting the same kind of voter turnout that marked that election.

Recent press reports stated that various analysts estimate between 55 to 72 percent of Boston's 264, 223 eligible voters will make it to the polls, their interest heightened by the first tight race since 1967 and sparked by the candidates' election day efforts (see accompanying story, page 3).

Home at Last

Over 50,000 new voters--about 20,000 of them minorities--have been registered in the course of the campaign, largely the result of a new voter drive undertaken in conjunction with candidate Melvin H. King's camp.

Yesterday's rallies and speeches mark the end of a long road for the eight contenders. And for the five given a chance to win today, a clear indication of who was favored and who was trailing came only within the last month.

Several recent polls have placed King, Raymond L. Flynn, and David I. Finnegan in a virtual dead heat with Lawrence S. DiCara '71 and Dennis J. Kearney '72 trailing by more than 10 percentage points.

Kearney, DiCara, and aides to leading candidates have said, however, that the polling has distorted the campaign by squeezing out the two Harvard graduates. Both have claimed that their organization and lengthy campaigning will push them over the top.

Previous Incident

The parade, which started in the Back Bay and wound its way to Faneuil Hall and the North End, turned into a contest of banners, balloons, placards, and shouting matches. It ended in a scuffle between a drunken supporter of Flynn and Boston City Councilor Albert "Dapper" O'Neil, who had just shaken hands with Finnegan.

The incident was indicative of the heated rivalry between Flynn and Finnegan, who clashed verbally on live television Thursday night after Flynn, a city councilor, accused Finnegan of calling him a "racist" and a "chameleon."

Members of both camps have conceded one of the two spots in the November 15 final election to king, and several polls have shown that Flynn and Finnegan are dead even for the second place on the ballot.

Last Days

King, the only Black candidate in a field of eight, predicted at the parade, "We're gonna win."

King, a former state representative from Boston, spent the weekend campaigning in different parts of the city, moving from a soccer match in a largely Hispanic area of Dorchester to a chic wine and cheese gathering at the Emmanuel Church on Newbury St., where he picked up the endorsements of two women's groups.

'Gimme that ole rainbow spirit.' 'Mel King para alcalde.'  --Chants of King Supporters

Along the parade route, Finnegan was heckled by shouts of 'Downtown Dave.'

King toured the game, shaking hands with onlookers, many of whom said they did not know of today's election. In an interview at the field, King said his final push could make a difference. "Obviously if it didn't matter I wouldn't be here," he explained.

At the "Women's Celebration for Mel King." Janet Ferome, president of the Boston chapter of the National Organization for Women, called King "a candidate for all the people" and added. "It's a man's world unless women vote."

King sat quietly in the back of the church with his wife and rarely smiled as several women's community leaders and poet Denise Levertov praised him.

The candidate, who said he is trying to smile more, appeared downright jubilant at the parade, where he was followed by about 30 supporters, who alternately chanted. "Gimme that ole rainbow spirit"--a reference to the King campaign's description of its voting coalition--and "Mel King para alcalde [for mayor]."

Near the end of the parade, Anthony Dagliuca, a short, elderly man toting a beer can, ran up to King on the street and enthusiastically greeted him. However, he said afterwards that he was planning to vote for DiCara because "he is smarter than all of them."

Flynn spent Sunday working areas in which he has already shown strength.

At a Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post in largely Irish Mission Hill. Flynn was praised by a succession of local leaders.

Neighborhood resident Benny Sullivan drew a lengthy metaphor between his own marathon running and Flynn's race for mayor, adding "Ray's done his road work."

Sullivan urged the audience of 70 to vote for Flynn because he had a "conviction towards your God, your community, and your family."

Mission Hill Hispanic leader Carmen Pola said at the meeting that Flynn's work on the hill's main housing project, which is 70 percent Hispanic, won her support, adding. "If he was racist none of us would support him."

In an interview at the half, Flynn said that "many people have made up their minds," and added that he was conflict to continue putting forth his "issues and positions" in the final days.

The South Boston native walked near the middle of the parade with his two daughters, as his supporters tried to drown out a vocal Kearney contingent.

Finnegan, a former president of the Boston School Committee, also stuck to home territory Sunday, attending two West Roxbury house parties and dropping in on a neighborhood Irish social club late in the evening, as well as attending a dance in Dorchester.

Finnegan, whose slide in recent polls appears to have levelled off somewhat, went to-his headquarters after the parade, and then to a Hanover St. VFW Post and two rallies.

In an interview after the parade, Finnegan said he is "very confident" and termed today's contest "a close race." The West Roxbury native said that charges by Flynn that he was "the candidate of the rich" were "unfair."

Along the parade route, Finnegan was heckled by shouts of "Downtown Dave," referring to his contact with Boston's business district.

DiCara, who has finished in fourth place in recent polls, canvassed almost every part of the city this weekend in an attempt, he said Saturday, to swing the substantial undecided vote and pick up supporters disillusioned over the recent flare-up between Finnegan and Flynn.

The Dorchester native Saturday moved from a Beacon Hill supermarket to a Black and Hispanic section of Dorchester, to Finnegan turf in West Roxbury, to a house party at a posh Mission Hill row house, and then to a dinner and dance at the Knights of Columbus in the predominantly Irish South End.

In Dorchester, DiCara, a former president of the Boston City Council, arrived at a supermarket just as a group of King supporters, leafletting and blasting salsa music from a car-top stereo, were leaving.

DiCara grabbed a small megaphone and said in Spanish. "I'm Larry DiCara, I'm running for mayor and I want to hear your concerns."

Flynn arrived alone at the Parkway Boys' Club in West Roxbury one half hour after DiCara. The two candidates, though standing 10 feet apart, did not say hello for 15 minutes.

As DiCara left he said to Flynn. "Well Ray, we'll be seeing a lot of each other the next few days."

"Yes Larry," Flynn responded. "Unfortunately. I think you're right."

At the parade, DiCara, at 33 years old the second youngest in the field next to Kearney, ran from side to side hugging and kissing supporters. In an interview at the parade. DiCara said he felt "pretty good" about his chances today.

"We're having a mighty good response on this parade," he added. "There are a lot of undecideds and I think we'll make it."

Kearney campaigned door-to-door Sunday with supporters in a cozy condominium complex in Hyde Park in the southernmost part of the city.

He spent the rest of the day behind closed doors, meeting with advisers and supporters.

In an interview Sunday at the Hyde Park headquarters, Kearney, the Suffolk County Sheriff, said he was "quietly confident," contending that polls which have placed him fifth "are not a reflection of solid voter support."

Kearney practically jogged through the parade as he ran to greet spectators, even those sporting Finnegan pins and banners.

Boston City Councilor Frederick C. Langone followed seven school-age girls--each wearing one letter of his surname--through the parade, but he lacked the throng of cheering supporters that accompanied his opponents.

Candidates Michael Gelber and Eloise Linger, who have received negligible support in polls, did not march in the parade.CrimsonD. CoryellDAVID I. FINNEGAN