By Bill Forry

Much has been made of this month's electoral success of Felix Arroyo, the city's first Latino councillor, who was on the bubble in the preliminary election, but surged to second in the final. Arroyo's triumph was profound and, some pundits say, signaled a turning point in minority clout in city politics.

That may indeed be the case, but the raw numbers in Dorchester tell a story of a neighborhood that remains largely split along racial lines when it comes to election day.

At Florian Hall, the double-precinct bellwether in Ward 16 that is usually among the city's top three vote factories, Arroyo finished a distant sixth, trailing neophytes Patricia White and Matt O'Malley. That's a desperately poor showing for an incumbent councillor of any stripe. If Ward 16 as a whole had its way, in fact, Arroyo would have finished out of the money on Nov. 4 - and Patricia White would be getting ready for her swearing-in ceremony.

In predominantly black parts of Dorchester, however, it was Arroyo who topped the ticket - often by doubling the number of his closest rival. In Ward 14, Arroyo swamped every other candidate, including Council President Mike Flaherty, who interestingly was outdistanced in some 14 polling places by White, who finished in the two-slot in the ward's biggest precinct, 14-2. Arroyo also finished atop the totem pole in every precinct in Ward 17, except Lower Mills' 17-13, where he shot down to fifth.

In Ward 13, which is dominated by three vote-heavy precincts in Savin Hill, Arroyo still managed to top the ticket and finished fourth in places like 13-10 (St. William School). The strong showing in state Rep. Marty Walsh's backyard was not lost on Arroyo, who spoke to the Reporter about the results last week.

"Martin Walsh worked very hard to make sure people knew his support was there for me and I'm very grateful," Arroyo said. "He has a lot of respect in that area, among the unions and Irish-Catholics. I have been a union person all my life and many union people know that. I did not have Greater Labor Council in the preliminary, but they turned around and gave me that endorsement for the final."

Walsh downplays his impact on the Arroyo surge in Savin Hill. But it's clear that it did make a difference. In the preliminary, Arroyo was deep in the six-hole in Savin Hill, where Mitt Romney ran neck-in-neck with O'Brien for governor in the last go-round. The question must be asked: Why didn't that same turnaround happen at Florian Hall?

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What really propelled Felix Arroyo from a long shot to a player this fall, he says, was a double dose of good strategy and good fortune. The surge of largely black voters generated by the dueling campaigns of Charles Yancey and Ego Ezedi was big.

"The black community poured into the polls in district four and both (Ezedi and Yancey) were campaigning for me," says Arroyo.

District Four's war allowed Arroyo to siphon more resources to other sections of the city - 10 targeted wards in particular - where his progressive leanings were thought to be a plus.

"We did phone calls across whole city but concentrated in those wards. If we could bring votes out in those 10 wards, we knew we would be able to win election and who knows what else."

Arroyo says he was also rewarded for not backing off controversial positions - like his early anti-war stance - because people valued his forthright stand.

"I do not like to lose by people not knowing what I stand for. I would prefer to lose by people knowing exactly who I am and they don't want that. I think that people value that, even if they disagree with some of points I stand for," Arroyo says.

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By the way, before you start printing up the Mayor Felix bumper stickers, this from the newly-minted councillor's own mouth: "I have no intention to be a mayor in the city of Boston."

Arroyo tells the Reporter that while he "never says no", he does not see the mayoralty "as something I'd do right now."

"I want to deal with local government from all aspects of it, but [I want to do it] legislatively."

How about council president, a role that his ally Maura Hennigan is pushing for him?

"I am going to urge him to run," says Hennigan, the third-place finisher on Nov. 4. "What a wonderful message to send, where he catapulted to second-place - and for the first time we have a majority people of color city."

Hennigan is also still clearly unhappy with Flaherty, who, she said during the campaign, targeted her for defeat and "used his power to be hurtful to a number of people."

"I think (Felix) could bridge some of the divisiveness," Hennigan said this week.

The buzz today is that Felix will make a run at Flaherty, but publicly Arroyo says it's too early. He strikes a conciliatory tone towards his fellow councillors.

"The people who elected them trust them and I have to respect that. Even if we disagree on issues we should be able to respect each other," Arroyo says. "If we believe in the philosophy of democracy, the role we are playing is very important for the city."