West-Side Comfort Wins Elections: Keith Linhares on the Powerful Bloc That Shaped Worcester’s Vote

By-Hank Stolz

Photo- linharesforworcester.com

WORCESTER, MA– Keith Linhares, recent candidate for District 1 City Council, has written an op-ed that is generating a great deal of discussion.

READ FULL OP-ED

Linhares argues that voters on Worcester’s west side are more comfortable and therefore have different priorities than many Worcester residents. Linhares feels that this voting bloc holds tremendous power in who is elected. He argued that his campaign, which focused on being confrontational and “getting real” about major issues, did not resonate with this key voting bloc and that these voters showed a lack of empathy for the urban problems faced by other parts of the city and preferred to focus on the “minutiae of neighborhood life.” For example, he said that affordability was a major issue in the city overall, but it did not seem to be a priority for the voters who decided the election.

Host Hank Stolz held a different view leading to a robust back and forth with Linhares saying the city government functions like an “arm of the Chamber of Commerce” and police unions, which he believed was what these influential voters wanted and that the winning formula for a Worcester election was to raise a lot of money, tell a “happy story,” and keep the message vague, polite, and non-specific on issues.