THE BOSS AND THE VOTE: Case Study in City Politics.

This article presents a case study on changing Mayor election scenario in Boston, Massachusetts. On Tuesday, November 6, 1941, Boston went to the polls to elect a mayor. On Wednesday morning, after the election returns had been duly made official, the Boston Herald had this to say: "Regardless of the outcome, the election was one of the most unsatisfactory in the history of the city. There were too many candidates. The people were so disheartened that many of them decided to register their disgust by staying away from the polls." Elements of confusion which could promote indecision among voters abounded. James Michael Curley was the main candidate and there were five candidates in opposition of Curley. Two of them were main threats, three of them running more for the sake of getting their names before the electorate than for any considered hope of election to office. John Kerrigan, the Acting Mayor of the City of Boston for the year and a half between Maurice Tobin's resignation to assume the Governorship and Election Day, was a young man in his middle thirties. John Reilly, the second major opponent of Curley and also young, was relatively unknown to the city for the dubious distinction of having been the Fire Commissioner of the city at the time of the tragic Coconut Grove disaster. With such a field of candidates, it was obviously impossible for a solid anti-Curley vote to develop. Still another consequence of the confused opposition to Curley was reflected in the behavior of the Boston press. The nature of the campaign itself reflected the plight of the opposition candidates. Curley's opponents seemed unable to decide how to conduct their campaigns.