'Progressive posse' offers new face

With at least four liberal-leaning challengers readying to run for seats in Somerville's municipal election this fall, some are heralding the bumper crop of fresh faces diving into the mix in a city once defined by old-time ward battles. Local attorney Todd Kaplan calls it the ''winds of change."

If change is in the air, there may be no place where it's blowing stronger than in Ward 6. Made up of the neighborhoods hard by the Cambridge border, and anchored by bustling Davis Square -- deemed one of the 15 ''hippest places in America" in 1997 by a national alternative magazine -- the ward is now the center of a looming showdown pitting a rising young leader of the local political scene against the Board of Aldermen's longest-serving member.

Addressing a crowd of about 100 people at Orleans Restaurant in Davis Square on Tuesday night, 27-year-old Rebekah Gewirtz got a raucous reception as she officially kicked off her campaign to unseat ward Alderman Jack Connolly.

The Rhode Island-raised Gewirtz, who served for two years as an aide to Somerville state Representative Pat Jehlen, cut her teeth in the political trenches as Somerville coordinator for Robert Reich's 2002 Democratic primary run for governor. The following year she helped found Progressive Democrats of Somerville, a group of activists pushing liberal Democratic Party positions.

But for all her rabble-rousing roots, Gewirtz's campaign focus so far is on the everyday issues of traffic, local development, the city's schools, and improved public transit. Gewirtz eschews talk of the race as a contest between old and new Somerville, making a point on Tuesday night of saying her campaign looks to embrace longtime residents like Helen Corrigan, the veteran chairwoman of city's Democratic Committee who was in the crowd, as well as those ''who have lived here for just a few years."

It's a recipe that worked for Carl Sciortino, the 26-year-old Tufts graduate who stunned local political watchers last fall by upsetting veteran Somerville state representative Vinnie Ciampa. Ciampa's vote to ban same-sex marriage prompted Sciortino, who is openly gay, to wage his challenge. But Sciortino's campaign focused on bread-and-butter district concerns, drawing strong support from those upset with Ciampa's gay-marriage stand, but finding its margin of victory among those won over by a committed-seeming young candidate in a district where some say the incumbent had grown complacent and detached from voters.

For his part, Connolly wonders where the beef is with his record. ''I maintain that I'm really the proven progressive here," says the 53-year-old lifelong Somerville resident who is serving his 11th term on the Board of Aldermen. ''I have 22 years of progress dealing with constituent service issues and city issues."

Gewirtz maintains there will be time later in the campaign to ''draw a contrast" with Connolly, saying she's focused right now on ''introducing myself to people."

Eugene Brune, who held the Ward 6 alderman's seat before serving five terms as Somerville mayor in 1980s, says when Sciortino toppled Ciampa last fall, he told people, ''I think this is just a beginning."

Speaking over the din at Gewirtz's kickoff, Herby Duverne agreed. ''There are a lot of concerned, qualified, interested young people that want to get involved," said Duverne, 36, who is seeking a school committee seat in neighboring Ward 7 and is the first Haitian-American to run for office in Somerville.

''They all seem to know each other, they're all young progressives, and feel they want to do something for the city," says Brune.

Indeed, Gewirtz's campaign manager, Rachel Berry, served in the same role last year for Sciortino, and Dan Cohen, a young political strategist helping Gewirtz, was also in the thick of the Sciortino organization.

Dorie Clark, a Ward 6 resident who served as spokeswoman for Reich's gubernatorial campaign, calls it the ''progressive posse," and says Gewirtz has been riding one of the horses at the head of it. ''Rebekah knows so many people and is so well-organized early in the race that I think she has a really good chance," said Clark.

It's an assessment that even Brune, a longtime Connolly backer, seems to share. ''He has to take this race very seriously," Brune says of Connolly, a well-liked figure in local politics who runs a Davis Square insurance agency. ''After everyone saw what happened to Vinnie Ciampa, I think they're all going to take the races very seriously in every ward."

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