Next time, Herbert Connolly probably won't wait till the last minute to vote. The Democratic candidate for the Massachusetts Governor's Council arrived too late at the polls, and lost the election by one vote.
A recount last week showed that Connolly lost the Democratic nomination in the Sept. 15 election. The recount showed Connolly with 14,715 votes. His opponent got 14,716.The 67-year-old car dealer said he had been campaigning on election day, "and I waited until the last minute to race over" to vote.
The result "gives new meaning to the phrase `one-man, one-vote,' " said Connolly's attorney, William Galvin.
Connolly, a member of the council since 1969, is protesting the election, claiming that some ballots are missing and others are invalid.
The eight-member Governor's Council, which dates from the Colonial era, lost many of its powers in the 1960s. Its chief remaining duties are to approve criminal pardons and confirm judges nominated by the governor.
Galvin said he would go to court Monday to request that the primary be invalidated and a special election be held to decide the nomination.
The lawyer also suggested the close vote might have had something to do with the last name of Connolly's opponent, Robert B. Kennedy.
Also on the ballot were Sen. Edward M. Kennedy and Rep. Joseph Kennedy, both D-Mass.
Although Lowell City Councilor Robert B. Kennedy is not a member of the famous Massachusetts political clan, Galvin said, he may have benefited from uncertainty on that point.
Robert Kennedy opposes another election.
"All another election would do at this point would be to give my opponent an opportunity to vote," he said.