Former Basile Aide Wins Democratic Primary In East Boston Rep Race

An ex-aide to former Rep. Carlo Basile won a five-way Democratic primary on Tuesday in the special election to fill Basile's vacant House seat.

Adrian Madaro, 26, will now face off against Joanne Pomodoro, an unenrolled candidate, in the special election on March 31.

The House seat opened up after Basile, an East Boston Democrat, signed on as Gov. Charlie Baker's chief secretary.

In the primary, Madaro beat out Joseph Ruggiero, a licensed funeral home director; Edward Deveau, a former aide to East Boston Sen. Anthony Petruccell; Boston City Council staffer Camilo Hernandez; and attorney Louis Scapicchio.

According to the city of Boston's elections website, an unofficial tally showed Madaro with 1,498 votes, or 42 percent, and Ruggiero with 1,140 votes, or 32 percent. Deveau picked up 570 votes, while Scapicchio and Hernandez received 174 votes and 173 votes, respectively.

Madaro's win deals a blow to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, who waded into the race as an early Ruggiero supporter. Ruggiero worked on Walsh's 2013 run for mayor.

Madaro served as Basile's chief of staff. He attended Tufts University and interned for U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) in Washington, D.C.

In a Facebook post last week, Pomodoro, the unenrolled candidate, asked voters to remain open-minded about the special election.

"I am not a professional politician, I don't have a machine behind me, what I do have is my profession as a social worker, my age and experience as a 62 year old woman," she wrote.