Harrington Wins Re-Election But Loses in Cape Verdean Strongholds

BROCKTON 11/06/07- In a close mayoral race, James E. Harrington defeated his opponent Jass A. Stewart by 727 votes, according to unofficial results reported right after the 8 pm. Fifty two percent of Brockton voters once again chose established experience over new vision by reinforcing their vote of confidence to the incumbent mayor.

According to the town largest newspaper, The Enterprise, “Harrington received 7,873 votes to Stewart's 7,146.” The 47 percent of the total votes that challenger Stewart gathered wasn’t enough to give him a chance to implement his 5 Point Plus Plan - the main agenda of his campaign - in the City of Champions and become Massachusetts' first African American and gay mayor elected by popular vote.

Though the lost, Stewart gained more ground among Brockton voters. In fact, he raised his popularity as a serious mayoral contender by 3 points compared to the 44 percent of the votes he received two years ago in his first failed run against Harrington.

In addition, elections results support the evidence that were pointing for a Stewart sweep of the hard-fought Cape Verdean vote. He won in 2 of the 3 wards in Brockton's Cape Verdean strongholds. Although he lost ward 2 by one vote (603-604 votes), in ward 4 where the campaign was marked by a controversial power plant proposal, Stewart who vehemently opposed the project, won by a margin of 1,231-932 votes. Ward 7, which includes the downtown and surrounding neighborhoods and hosts a large mass of kriolus – another term used to identify CVs - went to Stewart by a margin of 1,075-938 votes. Therefore, Jass' CV campaign team lead by Agnelo Montrond and Hermínio Furtado (owner of Fandata Magazine) have a reason to be proud of their hard work: defeat of Harrington CV team headed by Moisés Rodrigues and Jovino Peres. Unfortunately, that achievement by Jass' entire campaign machine wasn't consistent in other areas of city. Nevertheless, congratulations to him for winning the Cape Verdean challenge! On the other hand, let’s hope that the struggling CV community and the serious issues it faces such as high crime and foreclosure rates don’t get put aside again by Mayor Harrington until next elections. Its members should hold him up to his campaign promises.

To all the Cape Verdeans who splitted themselves into two passionate groups of Stewart or Harrington supporters, the election is over. The latter own. No room for grudges and hard feelings against each other! Instead, its time to take the hats off to the mayor and his CV campaign team and show fair play, nobility, and gentlemanship. Most importantly, it’s time to come back together again, unite and work side by side for the betterment of the community and the City of Brockton. A good way to restore the spirit of togetherness and "pa nu fika mas unidu" (let's be more united) mentality again is to invite a fella from the other team for “un grogu” (a drink; the Cape Verdean run Grogu) at restaurant Sodadi to the sound of some good “mornas” and “coladeras” and let bygones be bygones.

Meanwhile, kudos to Mayor James Harrington and his campaign staff for the victory! Kudos to the visionary businessman, Jass Stewart, and his hard-working supporters for putting up a good fight and opening doors of opportunities for more minority candidates to run for elected positions!