Jerry McDermott won the Allston-Brighton seat in the Boston City Council last night, defeating Mark Ciommo in a special election to fill the position held by the late Brian Honan.
McDermott gave his acceptance speech at the Days Hotel in Allston at about 9:30 p.m. last night to a boisterous group of supporters.
‘I can’t put into words the sense of humilty I feel that my friends and neighbors chose me for the city council,’ said McDermott, who was welcomed to chants of ‘Jerry! Jerry!’
The 35-year-old real estate agent from Brighton, who lives in the same house he grew up in, was joined onstage by his wife, Aoibheaann. He took time to thank many people involved in his campaign, getting choked up a bit as he personally thanked some supporters. McDermott also paused to remember the late Honan.
‘Nobody can replace [Brian] Honan,’ said Linda Osgood of Brighton, who attended the victory party, ‘but I feel proud that Jerry has taken his place.’
Boston University student Kristin Langone served as McDermott’s campaign manager this fall, taking a break from her classes in Boston University’s College of Communcation. Langone enrolled at BU in 1996, although she currently has junior status due to taking part-time classes while running her own business. She praised McDermott for the chance to work on his campaign.
‘He let me hit the ground running,’ said Langone, ‘and never made me feel inferior because I’m young or inexperienced.’
Second only to the cheer McDermott received was the reaction the crowd in the lobby bar gave when field coordinator John Huffman was announced. Obviously excited about the victory, Huffman enthusiastically credited the victory to the hard work of McDermott. He told a story about the day after the primary elections, when McDermott and Huffman met at 6:45 a.m. the next morning to go knock on doors and begin to campaign for last night’s election.
‘That’s why Jerry won,’ said Huffman. ‘He wanted it more and never went negative.’
McDermott won the most votes in the November primary, with 1,688, while Ciommo was second with 1,310.
‘Three months ago we set out with a plan to accomplish a goal,’ McDermott told the audience. ‘Tonight, we’ve accomplished that goal, and what a prize it is. … Today has been a lifelong dream fulfilled.’
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