Protege's Fate in Primary Could Be an Omen for Connolly

Hall, 52, who works in media relations for the American Bar Association, is a co-founder of FairGrowth, an organization formed to fight the size of MetroWest. A first-time candidate, he has struggled through awkward moments as well. At the League of Women Voters debate, a cable television technician had to interrupt to tell him to speak up. Campaigning door-to-door in Vienna, he interrupted his pitch to a voter to answer his cellphone.

Hall said Smyth has provided "passive leadership and at times almost invisible leadership," indifferent to those concerned about the increased traffic and overcrowded schools that come with massive new development. He said that if elected, he would work for greater community involvement in land-use decisions and approve no new projects without road improvements.

The race has been marked by an undercurrent of charge, countercharge and score-settling. Connolly has been outspokenly critical of Hall's lack of involvement in the Democratic Party, even suggesting that he is a closet Republican in cahoots with Connolly's arch political rival, Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va). Providence is in Davis's 11th Congressional District.

"Charlie Hall has no known Democratic credentials," said Connolly, who normally extols as a virtue the board's bipartisan consensus on major issues.

Hall said newsroom guidelines at The Post, where he worked as a reporter and part-time copy editor from 1985 to 2005, barred active involvement in partisan causes. He did acknowledge, however, that he and other activists met with Davis for 45 minutes in his congressional office in January to discuss politics in Providence. Hall, who said the meeting was arranged by someone else, said he had been considering running as an independent and wanted to know about the chances that a Republican would join the race, which would make an independent candidacy less attractive. He said Davis described the chances as low.

The issue infuriates Hall, who said that he has voted Democrat his whole life and that Connolly "has spent a hell of a lot more time in Tom Davis' company in the last six months than I have." His campaign produced records showing that Smyth voted in Republican primaries in 1988, 1989 and 1996.

"Meanwhile the other side is questioning my fitness as a Democrat," he said. "It seems like an odd tack to take. Anybody looking at my fundraising would see that if I had a congressman behind me, I'd be in a different boat." Smyth enjoys a commanding edge, $77,856 to Hall's $3,685, according to the latest reports.

Smyth said she has "no recollection" about 1988 and 1989 but confirmed that she voted for U.S. Sen. John Warner (R) in his 1996 primary.

"I thought John Warner deserved support," she said.