This one was sponsored by William M. Bulger Jr. as the 34-year-old lawyer battles to win the state Senate seat long held by his father, the former Senate president.

But Bulger's major opponent in Tuesday's First Suffolk District Democratic primary, Rep. Stephen F. Lynch, is not about to concede the elderly vote, a significant voting block.

The tried-and-true but not recently tested Bulger machine is matched against the upstart Lynch clan, which pulled an upset victory to unseat Rep. Paul Gannon just two years ago.