By Patrick McGroarty
News Editor

Things can get a little blurry for candidates and voters alike in the time between the release of Campaign Finance Reports (the deadline his year was Monday at midnight) and the moment when the last primary polling places close next Tuesday at 8 p.m. So thank goodness for the Adams Corner Old Time Political Rally scheduled for election eve, Monday night.

Last held to coincide with the gubernatorial race in 2002, the 6:30 p.m. rally promises to be a final chance to hear from candidates running to represent Ward 16 and beyond. All three gubernatorial candidates are scheduled to speak, and invitations have been sent to every candidate running for county, state, and federal elected offices that cover the politically active ward. The Cedar Grove and Pope's Hill Civic Associations will host the event. Sponsorship is provided by Gerard Adomunes (owner of Gerard's restaurant), The New England Regional Council of Carpenters, and Trinity Financial.

The main event at the rally is likely to be speeches from those campaigning for the State House's corner office, and you can expect the three members of Dorchester's state delegation who are running unopposed (District 12 State Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry, District 1 State Senator Jack Hart, and District 13 State Rep. Marty Walsh) to devote at least part of their time to gubernatorial endorsements. Forry has been campaigning for Deval Patrick, while Hart and Walsh have endorsed Tom Reilly, as has District 3 City Councillor Maureen Feeney.

The remaining member of the neighborhood's state delegation, Fifth Suffolk State Rep. Marie St. Fleur, has foregone a gubernatorial endorsement to focus on her campaign for re-election, where she faces two democratic challengers in the primary and a republican opponent in November. See related story, here.

In county races, the neighborhood's visual landscape has been dominated by yard signs heralding the contest between Ward 16 neighbors Peter Walsh and Maura Doyle for Suffolk County's Supreme Judicial Court Clerk. Walsh is vying to unseat Doyle, a 10-year incumbent, telling voters he would work as an "advocate for the people" and "expand the visibility of the office," to quote a recent press release. Doyle, meanwhile, has been increasing her own visibility by appearing with the political heavyweights such as Mayor Thomas Menino. On September 5, Doyle appeared alongside Menino, Walsh, and U.S. Congressman Stephen Lynch at a labor-heavy rally for Tom Reilly at Florian Hall.

Sure, incumbent register of deeds Mickey Roache has towering name recognition and had over $15,000 in his war chest at the end of August while challenger Mike Mackan has banked a modest $162.08. In fact, Mackan's only significant campaign expenditure since announcing his candidacy was to purchase his trademark back-scratchers emblazoned with his "I'm Backin' Mackan" campaign slogan. But Mackan does have the endorsement of Ward 16, where Roache lives, and that could make things interesting in Adams Village on Tuesday.

Ward 16 also endorsed Robert J. Della Russo, assistant Suffolk County Clerk of Court for Criminal Business, over Maura Hennigan, the former at-large city councillor and 2005 mayoral hopeful in the race for Clerk of Court for Criminal Business. Neither candidate lives in the neighborhood, but both have tapped into support networks that extend well into the Dorchester political establishment, which could make it the closest finish in a county race.

Incumbent Ninth District U.S. Congressman Stephen Lynch has drawn criticism from Democratic challenger Phil Dunkelbarger for a stance on the war that Dunkelbarger has described as misguided. National polls show that the war in Iraq is increasingly influential in voter decision-making and Dunkelbarger has attempted to draw a connection between his race and the primary victory of anti-war democrat Ned Lamont over incumbent Joseph Lieberman in Connecticut. In recent days, Dunkelbarger supporters from Dorchester People for Peace also criticized Lynch for backing out of a debate scheduled for last Thursday by the League of Women Voters of Massachusetts. But beyond People for Peace, Dunkelbarger's visibility in the neighborhood has been low, and his modest campaign may make comparisons to Lamont's success wishful thinking.

Elsewhere in Dorchester, the final push is on in two hotly contested state races. Willie Mae Allen will take on William Celester for the right to replace outgoing State Rep. Shirley Owens-Hicks in the Sixth Suffolk district. And, incumbent State Senator Dianne Wilkerson will attempt to win the Democratic nomination for her Second Suffolk seat, which includes a small portion of Dorchester in the Grove Hall-Franklin Park area. Wilkerson will have to prevail in a sticker slug-fest against three challengers- Sonia Chang-Diaz, Samiyah Diaz and John Kelleher.