No sooner had Everett City Councilor Sal DiDomenico defeated his main rival Cambridge Attorney Tim Flaherty to win the special senate primary election to fill the seat left vacant by former Senator Anthony Galluccio, Flaherty announced that he would be running in the September primary for the senate seat, again.
DiDomenico’s 120-vote victory in last week’s special election was a short-lived victory.
Even before the final election in May and the chance for him to be sworn in as senator, he has been placed in the position of running hard again against a formidable opponent in September.
“I am going to work hard. I feel energized. I was going to run in September anyway – so I’m ready to go,” Flaherty said Tuesday morning.
Efforts to reach senator-elect DiDomenico were unsuccessful.
However, DiDomenico said earlier this week that he will be running for re-election to the senate seat he is now expected to hold after the May election.
And it is expected as well that DiDomenico will throw everything he has into the September primary to hold on to the seat.
Last week’s special election was almost a draw, considering the wide expanse of the district and the efforts of both campaigns.
DiDomenico’s Everett margin was the clear difference, with Flaherty capturing more votes throughout the sprawling district than DiDomenico.
Flaherty won in Cambridge, Chelsea, Charlestown, Revere and Allston Brighton.
In Cambridge, DiDomenico received only 173 votes to Flaherty’s 1347. A total of 2927 voters came out in Cambridge and voted for a total of six candidates.
“The next time around, it is more than likely I will be the only Cambridge candidate – and this should make a difference,” Flaherty said.
The Everett vote gave DiDomenico 2599 to Flaherty’s 681.
Without others running in the September primary, the Everett and Cambridge votes would be a nearly even split, leaving Flaherty with a much larger plurality than DiDomenico.
But the September primary is sure to be a larger vote, as it will be part of Massachusetts’ general election, with the governor’s race and other statewide races being the catalyst for much greater voter participation.
So it’s DiDomenico versus Flaherty, again, for the seat given up by Galluccio, and won by DiDomenico.