Newcomer prepares for House role

In a political season that brought few surprises in Massachusetts, Carl M. Sciortino's victory stood out.

A 26-year-old political newcomer, Sciortino upset eight-term incumbent Vincent P. Ciampa in the House district that includes parts of Medford and Somerville.

His win came in what evolved into a kind of electoral twin bill between the two Somerville candidates: Sciortino won the Democratic primary in September, then defeated Ciampa when the latter mounted a write-in/sticker bid in the Nov. 2 final.

"I'm incredibly excited," Sciortino, who is manager of research operations at Fenway Community Health in Boston, said of his pending new job. "I think it's an amazing opportunity for me to be able to fight for the needs of my community on Beacon Hill."

Few would have predicted he would have that opportunity just a few months ago.

When he entered the race, "I knew I was facing a completely uphill battle," Sciortino recalled. "I was told by people I respect and agree with on the issues that I shouldn't bother running and didn't have a shot of winning. But I was always determined to do my best to be a serious challenger."

Media coverage of the race tended to focus on the issue of gay marriage. Sciortino, who is gay, supports the Supreme Judicial Court ruling that legalized gay marriage in Massachusetts. Ciampa voted for the constitutional amendment banning gay marriage but allowing civil unions. Groups for and against gay marriage campaigned on behalf of Sciortino and Ciampa.

But Sciortino said gay marriage was "not a focus of my campaign" nor an issue of importance to the voters he met during the campaign. He said he listed his position on the issue in his campaign brochure, but did not discuss it unless asked about it.

"That didn't become an issue even in the press till after the primary," he said of gay marriage. "The bulk of the campaign we spent door-to-door talking to people on their front steps and on their porches. We were talking about all the issues that were important to the communities. We emphasized the need for improving education and health care, and increasing local aid."

"Those were the issues that resonated the most, and those are the issues I think our district needs more improvement on in terms of representation," Sciortino said.

Sciortino also noted that his candidacy was an outgrowth of several years of his involvement in politics. That included volunteering for Robert Reich's 2002 gubernatorial campaign and later that year joining other local Reich supporters to found the Progressive Democrats of Somerville. He also cochaired Out Somerville, a gay-lesbian-transgender political action committee.

While Ciampa's vote on gay marriage led to his decision to run, Sciortino said it was the "culmination of a series of frustrations" with Ciampa's votes on a variety of issues, on many of which Sciortino had lobbied him.

Sciortino believes it was his grass-roots campaign effort that spelled the difference in the race.

"We spent months going door to door, every single day before Ciampa was out in the field at all. People knew who I was," he said.

Sciortino's campaign style helped him connect with voters, said Bob Feigin, a Medford Democrat who met Sciortino during the campaign and decided to back him.

"He worked hard to gain the support of the people who voted for him," said Feigin, an attorney. "He didn't take any one vote for granted. He listened very carefully to" the concerns of voters. "And he made himself helpful and available."

"I think a lot of people who opposed him are going to be very surprised to find that they are going to have access to him and that he is going to be interested in the issues they are interested in," Feigin added.

"He showed a real commitment to reaching out to different people throughout the communities," said Dan Cohen, a Medford Democrat who worked as an adviser to Sciortino in the campaign. "And he definitely showed he's willing to do the work for our families in this area."

Sciortino grew up in Milford, Conn. He came to Massachusetts to attend Tufts University, where he obtained a degree in biology in 2000. After college, he worked for a year as a research assistant in an HIV/AIDS research lab at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

He was then hired at Fenway Community Health. Starting as a research assistant, he worked his way to his current position. He plans to leave that job to assume his legislative post.

Sciortino has wasted little time getting ready for his new responsibilities. He has been spending considerable time at the State House trying "to build alliances" and prepare legislation for filing. He is also reaching out to "organizations and people in Medford and Somerville that I wasn't able to reach in the campaign," he said.

"I expect to be very active in the community," he said. "I'm going to go to as many community events and forums as I can. My job is to make sure I'm a familiar face so people are comfortable calling me if they need me," he said.

On social issues apart from gay marriage, Sciortino supports the right to an abortion, and opposes the death penalty.

But while comfortable with the label of a "progressive," Sciortino said, "I respect people from all different ideologies and viewpoints."

He added, "My agenda for my campaign and as a legislator is a working-family agenda more than a progressive agenda.. . . I'm going to the State House to fight for our communities."