In Somerville, they know how to oust

Among the messages sent by voters in the Sept. 14 primary, one was hard to pick up in the din created by others. But it came through loud and clear at a Tuesday night meeting of the Progressive Democrats of Somerville, where members of the two-year-old liberal political organization were celebrating what they considered victories in both of the contested local state representative races, despite the fact that, in one of them, their endorsed candidate actually lost.

The message from one end of Somerville to another, say the group's members: The status quo is on the ropes.

Much of the attention has focused on the Democratic primary in West Somerville and Medford, where Carl Sciortino, an openly gay first-time candidate, toppled eight-term incumbent Vinnie Ciampa. The defeat of Ciampa, who voted in favor of a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, was certainly a victory for gay marriage supporters, including the Progressive Democrats group, which endorsed Sciortino.

But the 26-year-old Tufts University graduate had more than one issue going for him, as he tapped a rich vein of frustration over less than vigorous representation from Ciampa over the years.

In the other hotly contested local primary, state Representative Tim Toomey beat back a strong challenge from liberal Cambridge activist Avi Green in a district split between East Somerville and Toomey's home base in East Cambridge. But Green, who had the backing of the local Progressive Democrats group, carried the Somerville side of the district by a healthy margin, even capturing a precinct in heavily working-class Ward 1, territory that Toomey, the son of a Cambridge cop, should have won in a walk.

Put the Somerville tallies from the two races together and it looks like the autumn of voter discontent in the tightly packed city of 76,000.

''The people who voted in Somerville were not happy with the incumbents. That's the clear bottom line," says Joe Beckmann, a member of the Progressive Democrats organization and longtime political activist.

Toomey and Ciampa were both criticized during the campaign for supporting a leadership-backed local aid formula that their opponents said shortchanged Somerville. Toomey, who also serves as an elected Cambridge city councilor, should be particularly mindful of any sense that he may be giving Somerville short shrift. ''I think there's always been a sense in Somerville of 'don't tread on us,' " says Beckmann.

''Somerville voters have always been attuned to politics," says the city's mayor, Joe Curtatone. ''They've voted out incumbents before, and they will again." It's a habit that has served Curtatone well. He bumped an incumbent alderman to first win office nine years ago and then ousted a sitting mayor, Dorothy Kelly Gay, last year.

But this month, like several local aldermen, Curtatone backed the incumbent state reps, finding himself on the opposite side of voters in Somerville.

Meanwhile, the Progressive Democrats are now training their sights on next year's contests for aldermen.

''I think people in Somerville are ready for new representation on multiple levels of government," says Marty Martinez, a cofounder of the Progressive Democrats. Martinez, who narrowly lost a race for alderman last year in the West Somerville ward that carried Sciortino to victory, says he's considering another run for the seat, while there is talk that other challengers could surface over the coming months.

''People are going to run if they're unhappy with their representation," says Curtatone. ''Then we'll see if the voters agree with them or not."

Michael Jonas can be reached at jonas@globe.com.