Sullivan: Non-Stop To Victory / Danovitch In Convincing Victory-November 6, 1974

Young Democrat Sweeps Norwood Precincts While Incumbent GOP Representative Secures Fifth Term

A zealous, nonstop campaign, combined with the statewide Democratic tide, carried young Gregory W. Sullivan to an impressive victory yesterday over his three equally youthful opponents. Mr. Sullivan finished first in all five of Norwood’s precincts with a total of 4,360 votes, nearly 2,000 votes ahead of his nearest rival, Republican David C. Boch, who garnered 2,301 of the 9,553 ballots cast. Independents James Jay Dixon and Brian W. O’Malley finished third and fourth, with 1,601 and 1,062 votes, respectively.

For Mr. Sullivan the victory climaxed a sustained six-month effort which picked up considerable momentum after he led a seven-man field of generally older candidates in September’s Democratic primary. It also fulfilled a desire to “get into government” which the 22-year-old Sullivan acquired while still a social relations major at Harvard. Mr. Sullivan graduated with honors from the Ivy League school only last June. But, it was his politically active family, rather than his college professors, who steered the new representative-elect toward the state Legislature. His father, Judge George Sullivan of Stoughton District Court, is a former state senator. “When I began looking for signatures in May, my father said, ‘Don’t go to my friends — get your own friends,’” he said last night.

Indeed, the Sullivan campaign got little if any active support from the established Democrats of Norwood. It relied instead on the energy and perseverance of young people, friends of the candidate and his nine brothers and sisters, and others who joined the campaign as it gathered steam. Timothy Sullivan, the candidate’s brother who he credited with the design of his successful campaign, commented on his strategy: “In the primary, the plan was to figure out how many votes we needed to win, and then go out and get those votes. The final becomes more of a general exposure campaign.”

The candidate called it a “very clean” race, but said he regretted the emergence of the school busing issue in the campaign’s final weeks. In response to charges that he had avoided issues, Mr. Sullivan said, “I dealt with the issues all the time — but not bogus issues.” Mr. Sullivan said he plans to spend his time between now and January researching several possible bills to be filed when the Legislature begins its 1975 session. A “pet issue,” he said, is the state’s care of handicapped and retarded children, and he plans to push for increased funding and improved administration of the new Chapter 766 Special Education Law. He plans to move out of his parents’ house soon into an apartment in Walpole-Norwood with some friends. Unlike many government-oriented college graduates, Mr. Sullivan says he has no plans for law school nor other graduate study. “I want to be the best legislator in there because of hard work,” he said. Looking very tired, he added, “You have to divorce campaigning from government. I hope they’re not the same things.”

Rep. Alan P. Danovitch, R-Norwood, coasted to a convincing win yesterday over challengers Frank H. Woodward, a Democrat, and Independent Beverly J. Hough in the 18th Norfolk district representative race. The incumbent’s margin of victory was almost exactly two-to-one over Mr. Woodward. Although Rep. Danovitch was favored throughout the campaign, many observers had predicted that Mr. Woodward would provide stiffer opposition. The 5,153 to 2,596 vote will send the Norwood attorney back to the State House for a fifth term in January. Mrs. Hough received 555 votes.

Rep. Danovitch carried each of Walpole’s seven precincts and the single Norwood area in the district, Precinct C. Until this year’s state-wide redistricting, Walpole and all of Norwood had comprised the two-seat 11th Norfolk District. The two-to-one vote ratio existed in all but two Walpole precincts. The only semblance of a race developed in Precinct 4, the home territory of both challengers. Even there, however, the victory was clear-cut. Rep. Danovitch tallied 555 votes to 457 and 100 for Mr. Woodward and Mrs. Hough, respectively. In his home precinct, in Norwood, Rep. Danovitch bested Mr. Woodward 1,195 to 498. Mrs. Hough received 138 votes.

Mr. Woodward and Mrs. Hough stressed the need for full-time representation throughout the campaign, with Rep. Danovitch maintaining that he had not and would not allow his law practice to cut into the time which should be spent serving the district. Yesterday’s results indicate that his performance over the past eight years has made the issue something less than the viable one which his opponents believed it was. Issuing his victory statement over the sounds of a jubilant crowd at the Italian-American Club in Walpole, Rep. Danovitch was “overwhelmed by the vote of confidence” given him by district residents. He added that the victory was particularly gratifying “considering the Democratic tide which swept the state.” Only 1,575 of Walpole’s registered voters are Republicans. He pledged “two more years of the very best service I can provide.” The inclement weather appeared to have little effect on voter turnout in Walpole. Just over 68 per cent of the registered voters cast ballots. Town Clerk Louis E. Hoegler’s pre-election estimate was 70 per cent.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger