The State Representative seat, vacated by Brian Golden, is being contested by four candidates. The Democratic primary is scheduled on March 15th. Here is what the Boston Globe had to say on the subject:
While every vote will be worth fighting for, one vote may count for a lot more than others.
For several years, candidates have been beating a path to the door of Naakh Vysoky, an 83-year-old Ukrainian-born physician whose ability to deliver the votes of some 400 to 500 Russian immigrants to a candidate of his choosing has made him one of the most potent powerbrokers in local elections.Vysoky holds court from his apartment in a Brighton complex operated by the nonprofit Jewish Community Housing for the Elderly, a set of buildings along Wallingford Road that is home to some 1,000 seniors, more than half of them Russian-Jewish immigrants.
Like immigrant groups in the early 20th century, the Russians in Brighton have learned that politicians respond to a big bloc of votes sent their way with attention to matters large and small.
A couple of years ago, after winning Vysoky's support, then-rep Golden began shoveling the walk in front of the complex after snowstorms, a level of constituent service that can be expected when one delivers votes in volume in a manner not seen in Boston since the days of Martin Lomasney, Julius Ansel, and other long-gone ward leaders.
Glennon, Golden's former aide, apparently learned at his boss's knee, and has been known to squire Vysoky on supermarket trips. "Glennon is a very, very nice guy," reports Vysoky. "But Walsh is also a nice guy," he adds diplomatically. "I don't know this Schofield, but I know his friend," he says of Friedman, the 2002 candidate whose campaign Schofield helped run. "
Friedman's
a good guy," says Vysoky. "He calls me also -- this Michael Moran."
Locals say the modern-day ward boss of Wallingford Road could easily tip a close race. "Naakh Vysoky could certainly help decide this election," says district City Councilor Jerry McDermott, who represents Allston and Brighton. [link]
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