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.