Running for his (political) life: Rough-and-tumble city politics color Sciortino campaign

Four years ago Carl Sciortino's defeat of Somerville Rep. Vincent Ciampa in the Democratic primary was viewed across the state as the most potent symbol of the power of the marriage equality movement in Massachusetts. The defeat of an entrenched 16-year incumbent and marriage equality opponent by a young openly gay man and his grassroots campaign operation made the state sit up and take notice.

Now it's Sciortino who's in the position of fending off a tough challenge in the 34th Middlesex District from Somerville Alderman Bob Trane, who has name recognition and organization in the district. On top of that, Sciortino has been forced to run a sticker campaign, which means Trane's name is the only one that'll actually appear on the Sept. 16 Democratic Primary ballot. And this time around the dynamic of the race has little to do with marriage -- both Sciortino and Trane support marriage equality -- and more to do with the rough-and-tumble world of local politics in Somerville and Medford.

When Trane announced his intention to challenge Sciortino, political observers from the Somerville News to Boston Magazine's political blogger, Paul McMorrow, speculated that Trane's run was payback for a perceived betrayal by Sciortino, who supported Trane's challenger, progressive Rachel Heller, in her unsuccessful 2007 run for his alderman seat. Sciortino declined to comment on Trane's motives for running, but Trane claimed it has nothing to do with any political grudge against Sciortino. Instead he claims Sciortino failed to live up to his promises to be a reformer on Beacon Hill. In particular, he pointed to Sciortino's acceptance of a $400 donation from anti-gay former House Speaker Tom Finneran's PAC the day after his 2004 primary win as well as his work alongside teachers' unions to try to pass legislation eliminating MCAS as a graduation requirement.

"I had high hopes when Carl was first elected. He ran as a reformer, and he talked the talk but he didn't walk the walk," said Trane, who has accused Sciortino of being in the pocket of special interests.

It's worth noting that Sciortino's four-year-old donation from Finneran did not prompt Trane to challenge him in 2006. Kevin Lownds, Sciortino's campaign manager, rebutted charges that Sciortino was too closely aligned with special interests.

"Rep. Sciortino has been endorsed by the teachers, the nurses, the social workers, and a lot of organizations that he's proud of their support," said Lownds.

Sciortino has attracted the support of several of his colleagues on Beacon Hill, including the entire Somerville delegation and freshman state Rep. Sean Garballey of Arlington, who represents a portion of the city of Medford. But several prominent local officials have decided to lay low during the race. For instance, Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone, who supported Ciampa in 2004, has not publicly endorsed in the race. Sciortino contends that the mayor told him that he did not want to choose sides in a race between two local officials.

"I did have a conversation with Mayor Curtatone. But he has to also work with Bob on the board of alderman." The mayor has assured me that he is not involved," said Sciortino.

Trane claims that Curtatone offered to support his own campaign but that he has decided not to seek out the endorsements of public officials, preferring to make the case directly to voters. Trane said Curtatone told him that if he asked for his endorsement he would receive it.

"[Curtatone] hasn't made any public endorsement. He said he's offered to support my campaign," said Trane.

Curtatone declined to comment on the race through his spokeswoman, Lesley Hawkins.

Medford Mayor Michael McGlynn has also thus far declined to issue an endorsement in the race, saying that there are too many races involving Medford officials for him to get involved with all of them. McGlynn, however, has endorsed Sciortino's fellow Medford House member Rep. Paul Donato in his re-election effort. Nonetheless, he had high praise for Sciortino's work on Beacon Hill, crediting him with securing $100,000 for senior transportation services for the city and with bringing more money to cities and towns by leading the fight in the House to pass legislation to close corporate tax loopholes.

"We've had a great relationship between the city and state. Carl is someone who grasps the issues in a hurry, knows how to articulate those issues, and has championed a number of causes here for us in the city," said McGlynn.

Donato is also staying out of the race, although he turned up at a July fundraiser for Sciortino featuring Gov. Deval Patrick as the headliner. Donato said he wishes Sciortino well but is focused on his own re-election effort, in which he is being challenged by Patrick McCabe of Medford.

Sciortino and Donato were on opposite sides of the debate over the failed effort to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage, but Donato, who considers Sciortino a friend, said Sciortino is effective at working with colleagues on all sides of the ideological spectrum.

"He's persuasive, articulate, and he does his homework to make sure that when you're on the other side you know what his point of view is, and he's a gentleman about the outcome, one way or the other," said Donato. He credited Sciortino with helping persuade him and other members of House leadership to back the governor's corporate tax loophole bill.

"Originally it looked like it wasn't going to go well, but he worked with the Speaker and the leadership team to convince them that his point of view was the right point of view to go forward with. And he was successful in that effort," said Donato.

One endorsement that has already reaped rewards for Sciortino has been that of Patrick, who offered strong words of praise at the July fundraiser.

"Carl has it all, and in addition to the statesmanship, he has a kindness about him and a thoughtfulness -- a sense of where policy touches people -- which I think makes him special. That is why I am here," said Patrick.

Patrick's endorsement is particularly notable because it's rare for a sitting governor to get involved in a primary race for a state representative seat -- especially for an incumbent who broke with the governor on one of his signature initiatives, his failed plan to bring casino gambling to Massachusetts. While he doesn't support casino gambling, Sciortino believes his longstanding support for the governor, and particularly his work leading the charge to pass Patrick's corporate tax loophole legislation, earned him the governor's support.

"People try to stay out of these kind of fights. But I've done a lot of work with him and his staff on some of his priorities. I was supportive of his campaign. I was supportive of a lot of his agenda. � [His speech at my fundraiser] was actually very moving to me on a personal level, aside from the politics of the whole thing. I wish he could go to all of my events," said Sciortino.

On the trail

If this was an ordinary election the odds would be stacked in Sciortino's favor. He has the endorsement of a range of progressive organizations, including MassEquality, which has never failed to help re-elect a pro-equality incumbent, and he also has Patrick's endorsement. As an incumbent who formerly lived in Somerville and now owns a home in the Medford portion of his district, Sciortino also has greater name recognition in contrast to Trane, whose base is located solely in Somerville. But Sciortino's sticker campaign is a major disadvantage. After failing to turn in the required number of certified signatures to the secretary of state's office -- Sciortino alleges they were stolen from his State House office -- Sciortino failed to qualify for the ballot. Sciortino and his team of volunteers have spent the summer door-knocking in the district, not only urging people to get out and vote but also explaining the mechanics of a sticker campaign.

During a recent canvass on a warm evening last month, Sciortino found no shortage of support in the district, although whether those supporters head to the polls on Sept. 16 remains to be seen. On any given evening Sciortino and about 15 volunteers take to the streets of the district to identify supporters and shore up that support; on this particular evening Sciortino was making a third pass through a section of the Medford Hillside neighborhood, trying to reach those few elusive voters who had been missed in the first two sweeps. In the span of a couple hours Sciortino made only about a dozen contacts - unsurprising, he said, given that he was targeting only hard-to-reach voters - and most of those he spoke with committed to voting for him. At least two of the streets that Sciortino canvassed that night were made up entirely of confirmed Sciortino supporters, according to his campaign records.

LGBT issues did not come up once during his conversations with residents. Instead, voters were looking for answers on more pressing local issues. One elderly woman, who said she had lived on the same street in the neighborhood for more than 50 years, pressed him on his position on extending the Green Line into the district. Sciortino has been a leader in the push to extend the Green Line, but the resident said she worried the that parking spaces along the streets around the proposed site for the Green Line stops would be clogged with cars from commuters parking in Medford and taking the subway into Boston. Sciortino reassured her that he would push for aggressive parking enforcement as part of the Green Line extension, and she seemed convinced. She told him he had her vote.

Sciortino won over another voter, a woman in her thirties, by talking up his position on MCAS. The woman explained that her son had taken the test once and had not done well, and she was concerned it would be a barrier to his graduating. She seemed persuaded by Sciortino's plan to make MCAS part of a larger portfolio of high school work that schools would weigh when deciding whether to allow a student to graduate. She told him she would place his sticker on the ballot on primary day.

On Marston Street another woman, who appeared to be in her forties, at first waved Sciortino away, explaining that her family was in the middle of dinner. But after Sciortino handed her his campaign flyer she glanced at his photo, then up at Sciortino and did a double take. A smile quickly broke out on her face, and she explained that several of her neighbors had been talking up his campaign. A few houses on the street already had Sciortino campaign signs on the front lawns.

"We'll vote for you. You're a nice young man, good luck to you," the woman said. Her support did not waiver when Sciortino explained that he would not be on the ballot, and he explained that campaign volunteers would be on hand the day of the election passing out stickers to place his name on the ballot.

Another woman, the last voter the campaign was hoping to reach on her street, not only pledged her support but also invited the campaign to send her a sign to place in her yard. She said several of her neighbors had put up signs as well.

"They've all done nothing but brag about you," said the woman.

Not everyone in the neighborhood was supportive. An elderly man refused to say whether he would support Sciortino and gruffly told him, "Well, we'll have to see what happens." Another elderly woman wished Sciortino luck but said that she and her husband had abstained from primaries for more than 70 years.

"I can tell you we don't vote in the primaries. I'm not going to declare myself as a Democrat or Republican. I'm an independent,"? the woman said.

Sciortino said his current campaign, as in 2004, is organized around door-knocking, fundraising, and mailings, but the cost of printing stickers and educating voters about how to use them means that the campaign must raise more money this time around. He declined to say how much has been raised so far and what the target is, but he described it as "aggressive."? Pre-primary campaign finance reports aren't due until Sept. 8.

Even though Sciortino is more familiar to voters this time around than he was in 2004, when he was an unknown candidate, he said door-knocking has actually been more labor intensive this time around.

"It's more difficult to have short conversations because a lot of people actually do want to ask for help or talk about real issues in the community. As the rep standing in the doorstep I'm not going to walk away from them. So I think I make less ground in a given night than I did four years ago because a lot of conversations just take longer," said Sciortino. "But it's also easier in a different way because I actually have a record and things I can point to. So that's really been the emphasis of what we talk about, is accomplishments of what I've been prioritizing, focusing on."

'Passion' on gay issues has died down

Most likely, LGBT issues aren't coming up on the trail partly because Trane himself is a strong supporter of marriage equality and LGBT rights. He said he worked to maintain city funding for its LGBT liaison and joined with his fellow aldermen in ordering city clerks to grant marriage licenses to all couples, defying a now-repealed law that barred most out-of-state same-sex couples from marrying in Massachusetts.

"I think my record speaks for itself on same-sex marriage and gay issues. I've been up front about my support for same-sex marriage and equal rights under the law for everybody,"? said Trane.

Sciortino's own record shows him to be one of the leaders on LGBT issues in the House, including his landmark sponsorship of the first statewide legislation to extend non-discrimination and hate crimes protections to transgender people. Sciortino said his stance has won him supporters.

"There are people who are definite supporters who became definite supporters four years ago because the issue [of marriage equality] was so heated. So I have some folks that seem to be very loyal to me because of it. But it's actually pretty fascinating how quickly the passion dies down. The scatterings of people who, that's their primary issue, I'm not getting the door slammed in my face. People are willing to have conversations about other issues as well," said Sciortino.