Q&A #4 -- Open Rep Races In Boston

"Battle for Boston" asks:

3 open seats in Boston for state rep. 4th, 5th and 6th suffolk. who do you see as front runners and eventual winners ?

Actually, there are four open state representative seats in Boston -- you left out the 10th Suffolk, where Michael Rush is running for state senate.

As to frontrunners and likely winners, I really would have a tough time saying right now. Incidentally, today is the deadline for turning in signatures -- although there's still a whole process before we know who is and isn't on the ballot. What I can tell you is that Nick Collins, a likely strong candidate for Wallace's seat, is the only one who has already qualified for the 4th; and Darrin Howell and Divo Monteiro are already qualified in 6th, to succeed Willie Mae Allen. Both of those fields figure to be fairly crowded. The 5th, for Marie St. Fleur's seat, may be effectively a two-way race between old guard Barry Lawton and young pup Carlos Henriquez -- but for now, the only one already qualified for the ballot is the eternal Althea Garrison. As for the 10th, Paul Sullivan and Kelly Tynan have qualified, and I believe two more are coming.

If I had to guess at winners, I'll go with Collins in the 4th, Henriquez in the 5th, Russell Holmes in the 6th, and Tynan in the 10th.