In a win for the "liberal elite" in the State House, Jarrett T. Barrios '90 knocked off an incumbent state representative while perennial Cambridge politician and first-term legislator Alice K. Wolf retained her seat by a comfortable margin.
Both incumbent Alvin E. Thompson, a part-time security guard in Pforzheimer House, and Vice Mayor Anthony D. Galluccio, who lost to Wolf in 1996 by a 90-vote margin, emphasized their working-class roots in this summer's campaign. But they were topped respectively by Barrios, a Harvard-educated attorney, and Wolf, who received support from women's groups and The Boston Globe.
In the 28th Middlesex District, Barrios was the clear winner with 48.7 percent of the vote, more than 20 points ahead of his nearest rival, community organizer Dennis A. Benzan, 28. The incumbent Thompson ran a distant third, with only 19.2 percent of the vote.
"We are very excited," said a jubilant Barrios at his victory party. "It is all about hard work. People are ready for change."
Barrios, 30, an attorney at the Boston law firm Hill & Barlow, was named 1997 Pro Bono Attorney of the Year for his work representing immigrants.
He lists "affordable housing, schools [and] child care" among his top priorities.
Barrios's district covers south and east Cambridge, along with several River Houses, and includes many poor and non-white residents.
The mood at Barrios's victory party at Carberry's, a Central Square bakery, was ecstatic. Throngs of Barrios's mostly youthful supporters jammed the room and cheered their candidate.
"I'm so young. I have no idea how I can contain my happiness," said Emma R. Stickgold, 16, a Barrios volunteer who attends Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. "This campaign has absolutely convinced me that local politics are essential."
The Barrios campaign attracted several Harvard undergraduate volunteers.
"I love Cambridge, where a gay Latino man can be the most viable candidate," said Ari M. Lipman '00.
Barrios said he would be the first openly gay man elected to the House as a non-incumbent and the only Latino in the next House.
Barrios triumphed over a four-candidate field which in addition to Benzan and Thompson also included David Hoicka, a Central Square attorney. In the past, similarly crowded fields had helped Thompson eke out a plurality of votes.
Endorsements from the Cambridge Chronicle and the Boston Phoenix, as well as political groups like the Cambridge Lavender Alliance-a gay and lesbian group-and the state chapter of the National Organization for Women helped boost Barrios's profile.
He will face Republican Ronald W. Potvin in November.
"We take every opponent seriously," Barrios said.
A few blocks away at K.C. Peppercorn Grill, Benzan's party was more subdued, with supporters-many of them family and childhood friends-nevertheless cheering his strong finish.
"I'm still proud of him," said Sheila M. Colom, 31, a friend of Benzan's from his youth in central Cambridge.
Across town, Wolf celebrated with her supporters, a principally older, female crowd, at Fraser's on Mass. Ave.
"We've worked very, very hard," she said. "It's the first time since I was seven years old that I haven't been swimming once the whole summer."
Wolf's work appeared to have paid off, as she attracted 54.7 percent of the electorate, 900 more votes than Galluccio. By comparison, in their 1996 match-up her margin of victory was 89 votes.
She said her immediate priority is a special legislative session to override several vetoes by Acting Governor A. Paul Cellucci. She hopes to pursue education and affordable housing issues, two longtime interests she advocated as a member of the Cambridge School Committee and as a former city councillor and mayor.
"I feel really wonderful," said Wolf volunteer Victoria I. Tamas, 35, a policy analyst at the Cambridge Housing Authority. "I was very excited to be part of a narrow victory last time, and it's even better to be part of a large one."
Tamas held her son David, 2, an "early campaign volunteer."
Volunteer Janet Green, 53, said "what first attracted me was her ideas about education."
The 27th Middlesex District, which first elected Wolf in 1996, includes southern and western Cambridge. It contains the Yard dormitories and the Quad.
Although both Galluccio and Wolf emphasized similar issues, the race was a feisty one, with Galluccio's side accusing Wolf of being a "limousine liberal" who had no real interest in the city's poorer neighborhoods. Wolf's supporters, like William C. Madsen, countered that Galluccio ran a divisive race that pitted north and mid-Cambridge against each other.
"As a resident of north Cambridge, I was personally offended by that," said Madsen, a family therapist, who spent yesterday afternoon on a rainy street corner bearing a Wolf placard.
Madsen said he was pleased that Wolf won despite a low-key campaign style.
"Alice, while she's a great politician, is not a good campaigner...[She] is very steady but is not flashy."
Wolf faces no opposition in the November election.
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