“It’s looking less and less like an Irish rugby team,’’ said former councilor Michael McCormack.
“I wasn’t surprised by this at all,’’ said Maura Hennigan, a former city councilor and unsuccessful challenger to Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino. “It’s a whole new day in the city. I felt it from listening to people, from West Roxbury to Charlestown.’’
Beyond gender and ethnicity, Pressley is the modern face of a city that has changed dramatically over the decades. When Hicks died in 2003, the headline over her Globe obituary identified the South Boston politician as an “icon of tumult.’’
Hicks, who came within 12,000 votes of being elected mayor of Boston in 1967, was a leading opponent of court-ordered school desegregation. Her passion for the cause turned her into a nationally known symbol of racial division.
In contrast, Pressley, a former aide to Senator John Kerry, describes her agenda as “eradicating poverty and ending cycles of violence.’’ She also took on controversial issues like expanding sex education in Boston public schools.
Pressley was cast as the weakest of the four at-large incumbents. Because of attendance issues relating to the illness and subsequent death of her mother, her commitment to the council was questioned.
With the retirement of veteran councilor Maureen Feeney, a Pressley loss would have left Boston with its first all-male council in nearly 40 years. As a result, women rallied to Pressley’s side, including Barbara Lee, the big Democratic fund-raiser, and supporters connected with the Massachusetts Women’s Political Caucus.
Pressley also got help from some powerful men. A core of Kerry volunteers joined forces with Pressley’s devoted campaign staff in the weeks leading up to election day. Kerry stood outside Grove Hall with Pressley the day before Tuesday’s election, and his team provided get-out-the-vote ground support on election day.
