Democrats Sweep Local Races

While the gubernatorial race remained close to the last, early election returns predicted clean sweeps for four Democratic incumbents in the State House and Senate.

State Sen. Michael J. Barrett '70 claimed victory last night by a margin of nearly 2-1, eclipsing Republican challenger William F. Hofmann III after a hard-fought battle to retain his Cambridge set.

Barrett said he found the scale of his victory quite a surprise, given the restive mood of the state's electorate.

"I felt it would be quite close," Barrett said. "The voters I saw marching in Cambridge and Allston-Berighton were angry. But they chose not to take it out on me."

In order to address that climate of anger, Barrett said the Senate will have to cut a number of "sacred cows," reforming the civil service and judicial system and looking into trimming some health care benefits.

"It's not clear that we're going to be able to do everything that is useful," Barrett said.

Commenting on early predictions that Republican William F. Weld '66 would be elected the state's next governor, Barrett responded that he would rather see a Democrat in office. But he added that he did not want the state's highest echelons divided along partisan lines.

"I am going to make Bill Weld a star," Barrett said. "I want to see that he succeeds in knitting the state back together."

Also securing his seat for a ninth term was State Sen. Michael LoPresti, Jr., who captured victory over Republican Vincent L. Dixon after a clean but hard-fought campaign.

"People have looked at 17 years in the Senate and said that they are content," LoPresti said. "In a year when people weren't happy with politics in general, it feels good to be reelected as an incumbent."

However, Dixon finished close at LoPresti's heels, capturing nearly 30 percent of the vote in the Democratdominated Suffolk and Middlesex district.

"We are dealing for the first time with a Republican who has run seriously for this seat," Dixon said. "We are breaking new ground."

Despite his loss, Dixon was pleased with the campaign and its outcomes. "I defied the odds," he said. "I may have done so in such a way that I couldn't win."

With victory firmly captured by a margin of approximately 25 percent, LoPresti expressed concern about the state's economic problems. "The first thing we all have to address is the fiscal situation of the state," he said.

The races for state representative also brought few surprises as incumbents were again welcomed back to their seats in the House.

After a campaign heavily endorsed by local unions and interest groups, State Rep. Alvin E. Thompson claimed victory early on, with approximately 62 percent of the public's vote. Thompson explained his win over Republican Ralph A. Lopez by saying that the public "liked my style of work in the House."

Thompson said that he was ready to tackle the problems of the state in his second term as representative.

"One big change is that Cambridge will have a lot more say in state government," he said.

Thompson sees the issues underlying Question #3, the tax rollback referendum, as a major player in future legislative action. "Although it [Question #3] didn't win, the `no' vote is telling us that they want us to take the ball in hand and work with it," he said. "The days of runaway authorities are over."

State Rep. Charles F. Flaherty also stepped easily into his 13th term in the House, with a vote of about 65 percent. Flaherty, who many expect to be named the next House speaker, finished an easy campaign with a victory over Republican A. George Catavolo.