In Somerville, reluctant Coakley voters motivated by health care

SOMERVILLE -- In the Democratic primary last month for US Senate, this city backed the campaign of Representative Michael Capuano, a native son and former mayor who ultimately came up short against Martha Coakley.

Capuano's loss did not prevent voters from turning out in droves today for the general election, with a polling place at the Dante Club bustling early. Several people interviewed on the way out of the social hall described themselves as reluctant Coakley supporters motivated by the prospect of a victory by Republican Scott Brown and concerns that it would thwart the health care legislation before Congress.

"To be honest, I wasn't all that enthusiastic about Martha Coakley. But, you know, I think the health care thing is so important," said Chris O’Brien, a 29-year-old singer-songwriter who began paying closer attention after the race tightened. "I didn't know who Scott Brown was two weeks ago. . . [but] I know he’s been gaining some serious momentum over the last couple of weeks, so we'll see. It’s hard to imagine Massachusetts with a Republican senator."

In the primaries, 670 of the precinct's 2,300-plus voters cast ballots, leaving poll workers in December with little to do for stretches other than sip coffee and leaf through magazines. But this morning, 334 had voted by 10 a.m., with the line snaking down the corridor at times during a pre-work rush. Some had not voted since the 2008 presidential election.

The Coakley campaign was going door-to-door among the neighborhood's multi-family houses to check off potential supporters and encourage turnout, in a densely populated area that was once the domain largely of immigrant and working-class families and that is now home to scores of young professionals and graduate students.

"It's been busy, exceptionally so," said Niki Voorthamis, the precinct's warden, noting that a dozen or so voters had already come in who were not on the rolls at all or who had fallen to the inactive list because of recent failure to vote or return the city's last census.

At that moment, as if on cue, Mara Brod approached Voorthamis's table, after the clerks near the door failed to find her name on their list. Brod, a 39-year-old photographer who has lived in Somerville for over a decade, confided that she had not voted since 2008 and had recently moved within the city.

"I just wanted to see if I'm still registered at my old apartment," Brod told Voorthamis, who jotted down her past and present addresses on a pad and picked up a walkie-talkie to call the city's election headquarters. A fuzzy reply came back; Brod was on the list at the Cummings School, nearly a mile's walk in the snow.

"You hear that? You're at 3-2, and I'll tell you where that is," Voorthamis said. "You're on the inactive list but you can vote there."

Outside, Brod said she was motivated by a desire to see national health care legislation pass, not because she loves Coakley.

"I feel like she's who we have, and I'm a little disappointed about the way she ran her campaign," Brod said. "But I guess they just didn't see this coming."


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