Tito Jackson grabs District 7 seat

Tito Jackson grabs District 7 seat

By O’Ryan Johnson  |   Wednesday, March 16, 2011  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Politics
Photo by Mark Garfinkel

The same day a federal judge turned down disgraced ex-City Councilor Chuck Turner’s jail sentence appeal, Roxbury voters turned out in low numbers to elect Tito Jackson as his successor.

“I feel wonderful,” Jackson told the Herald last night. “I just walked into my mom’s room and gave her a hug. She said she knew it was going to happen. It was the culmination of her prayers and her mother’s prayers. My first step is to attend to a couple hundred folks who worked long and hard in the cold, who have pushed through a labor of love for this community.”

Jackson, a former aide to Gov. Deval Patrick, defeated Cornell Mills, the son of disgraced ex-state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson, with 2,829 votes to 556. There are more than 30,000 people on the active voter rolls in District 7.

Each man had voiced confidence earlier yesterday that he would emerge victorious heading into the final hours of the election, with Mills saying his campaigners would do everything they could to get more voters to the polls.

“The weather has been nice, but turnout has been slow,” Mills said yesterday afternoon. “We’re going to target some areas and try to push those numbers up.”

Mills couldn’t be immediately reached last night.

Jackson said he felt the community was rallying behind his campaign.

“There’s been a lot of hugs,” he said. “But there’s nothing like the elders in the community coming around you, encouraging you. We’re both (Jackson and Mills) sons of this community.”

Meanwhile, U.S. District Court Judge Douglas Woodlock scolded Turner in federal court paperwork, ordering him to report to prison next week.

“My review satisfies me that the defendant’s appeal is without merit and consistent with other litigation initiatives pursued by defendant, taken for the purpose of delay,” he wrote. Turner must report to federal prison on March 25 to begin serving a three-year sentence. Turner, who endorsed Jackson could not be reached for comment.

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