Keller @ Large: Winners & Losers In Boston Mayor's Race

BOSTON (CBS) - You want hidden winners and losers from Tuesday night's Boston mayoral preliminary?

You got 'em.

Let's start with the bad news.

Listen to Jon's commentary:

The Boston Teachers Union and its anti-reform jihad against non-union charter schools was a big loser, with both of the mayoral finalists being staunch charter school supporters. Marty Walsh's position didn't seem to cost him many labor votes; I bet a considerable number of Boston teachers, in the privacy of the booth, voted for John Connolly.

Another hidden loser: identity politics.

Perhaps we'll discover that Rob Consalvo got most of the Italian vote and Charlotte Golar Richie ran well with women. But they were also-rans because ethnic and gender-based voting, while not entirely gone, just isn't as monolithic as it used to be.

One not so hidden winner was the building trades and other unions who rallied behind Walsh. Their numbers may be declining, but their political clout is intact, especially when galvanized by a candidate they really like.

And while some say Mayor Menino had a bad night, seeing friends like Dan Conley, Consalvo and Golar Richie go down while two candidates he has little affection for won, I'd say the results were an affirmation of the Menino model of politics and governance, with two practitioners of Menino-style coalition-building winning a low-turnout race that suggested Boston voters aren't especially upset with the status quo.

It's going to be an interesting final.

May the candidate with the best plan to cut down on the wretched traffic gridlock win.

You can listen to Keller At Large on WBZ News Radio every weekday at 7:55 a.m. You can also watch Jon on WBZ-TV News.