By Bill Forry

Don't take that plastic Santa Claus and mistletoe out of the attic just yet. Campaign buttons and lawn signs are likely to be more in vogue this holiday season, with a special election set for mid-January to elect a new state senator in the First Suffolk district.

A special primary to fill the seat vacated last month when Stephen Lynch was elected to Congress has been set for January 15, 2002. A final election will be held on February 12.

Lynch was elected in October to replace the late John Joseph Moakley in the Ninth Congressional district. With Lynch now in Washington, a replacement must be chosen to take over responsibility for representing the First Suffolk, which -at the moment- includes South Boston, parts of Roxbury and about one-third of Dorchester.

However, by this time next year, the First Suffolk will take on an entirely new look- with all of Dorchester- including parts of Mattapan- and South Boston within its confines.

The January-February special elections will select a candidate to serve out Lynch's unexpired Senate term. The first chance to elect a senator in the new all-Dorchester and South Boston seat will come in September 2002.

Last Saturday, State Representative John A. Hart (below, right) announced that he will run to replace Lynch in the current First Suffolk seat. One potential Dorchester candidate, State Rep. Marie St. Fleur of the Fifth Suffolk district, says she is interested in the seat, but has not yet finalized her decision.

Hart says about 600 people turned out for his kick-off party on November 3 in South Boston. State Rep. Martin Walsh of Dorchester introduced Hart to the crowd.

This week, Walsh told the Reporter that he has committed himself to support Jack Hart for Senate both in the upcoming special election and next fall, when Hart- if elected in the special- would likely run to defend his place in the Senate.

Walsh's outward support of Hart is far more significant in light of the last week's big news from Beacon Hill. On November 1, the State Senate approved a redistricting plan that will dramatically alter the look of the First Suffolk seat next year. The revamped seat includes all of Dorchester's wards and the vast majority of eligible voters in the district would be Dorchester residents. Walsh, whose entire House district is included in the re-vamped Senate seat, would likely be considered the most viable Dorchester candidate, if he decided to run.

Instead, Walsh has opted to throw his support to Hart in the special election, a major coup for the South Boston representative, who already had strong roots in Dorchester's northernmost wards, 7 and 13. Walsh explains that he had committed his support to Hart before he learned of the creation of the new, heavily Dorchester seat. Despite the likelihood that he will might be in the position of supporting Hart against a fellow Dorchester resident, Walsh says he will not change his position.

"I am supporting Jack Hart in the special election and I intend to endorse him next year after he is elected," Walsh told the Reporter this week. "I will do anything we need to do to elect him in Dorchester."

Hart said this week that Walsh's support will be a key element in his special election campaign.

"I'll just say that I'm flattered by it and blessed that a guy of Marty's calibre and his ability is willing to do this. Because of his support I will be much more successful," said Hart.

With the balance of power so clearly in favor of Dorchester- whose population is 129,000 as opposed to South Boston's 29,000- it is likely that Hart will pick up at least one significant opponent next summer in the reconfigured district.

Hart says he is not yet looking that far ahead, deciding instead to focus on winning the current seat.

"I expect a challenge in the special election- and for anyone to hear speculation about my view beyond January 15 would anger people," said Hart, who said he did not know of any other prospective candidates.

"It's been a tradition for that seat for the representative in the district to look at and run for that seat," Hart said. "(The newly drawn seat) doesn't factor into the decision right now.

"I'm running for the existing senate seat. It's important to hold it because otherwise people of the current seat will go unrepresented for months.

"Next September is not really even on my mind right now. I'm seriously interested in the election in January. Once that happens- and hopefully if I'm successful- I'll start to think about the new district," Hart said.

Meanwhile, the one Dorchester candidate who appears ready to challenge Hart in the special election- and next fall- is Rep. Marie St. Fleur (below).

"I'm extremely serious about looking at the seat," St. Fleur said this week. "People really want me to run for the seat.

"I happen to think Boston is changing. We are a city that is truly becoming more unified and we're building bridges across ethnic and cultural lines. I think I'm a candidate who can reach across those lines and continue the work we've started," said St. Fleur.

"I think Dorchester deserves representation- and we deserve to have someone look at the seat. I have to think about this strategically and I will be making a decision soon."