The Left, left out?

The Phoenix looks at the fate of recent local elections and the candidates considered most liberal. I've excerpted some sections about the recent A/B City Council election.

The Left, left out? - News - The Phoenix

In Allston-Brighton, progressive favorite Tim Schofield was widely expected to win one of two available spots on the November ballot in the race to replace district city councilor Jerry McDermott. But Greg Glennon, considered the most conservative candidate in the race, pulled the upset in the preliminary and will face neighborhood activist Mark Ciommo.

Turnout for the recent special elections and primaries has been dismal, because the less attention-getting an election, the fewer people vote. When that happens, historically the scales tip toward the “neighborhood” voters — ...the long-time residents of Brighton... — who show up at every election.

Anthony Galluccio, who won the Democratic primary to replace Barrios, is liberal enough to have gained the enthusiastic endorsement of several progressive groups in Cambridge. Ciommo, who finished first in the Allston-Brighton council preliminary, meets all the usual progressive tests on the issues.

All of those candidates, observers say, succeeded through hard work — getting to know and impress people in their districts over many years. Yet none of them became a “darling” of the new progressives. And most of those who were anointed darlings — Schofield in Allston-Brighton...— couldn’t put together the kind of effective district-wide campaign that wins races