How Dave Robertson Won Tuesday's State Rep Primary

TEWKSBURY, MA -- If they set odds on local state legislative races, Las Vegas bookmakers would have had a tough time with the Democratic primary for the 19th Middlesex District seat in the state House of Representatives, which represents Wilmington and most of Tewksbury. James Miceli was elected to 22, two-year terms and was only challenged eight times in the 21 times he ran for reelection. Before his death in April, Pina Prinzavalli, a Tewksbury Republican, would have been the ninth.

Dave Robertson, who was Miceli's legislative aide and bested four other Democrats Tuesdat, wouldn't have been a long shot in Vegas, but he wouldn't have been the odds-on favorite. Tewksbury Selectman Mark Kratman, Wilmington Selectman Michael McCoy and former Wilmington Selectman and School Committee member all had more experience running campaigns and had bigger war chests, according to campaign finance filings released last month.

While Tewksbury has more registered voters, giving candidates from that town an advantage, Miceli overcame his Wilmington residency by being a conservative Democrat. That appeared to be the strategy employed by McCoy -- Miceli's nephew -- who characterized himself as a "JFK Democrat" in the race's only debate. But McCoy only got 108 votes in Tewksbury, fewer than any other candidate, creating a deficit he couldn't overcome despite being the candidate that got the most votes in Wilmington with 992.

Robertson didn't get the most number of votes in either town, but made a big enough dent in McCoy and O'Connell's Wilmington base to win the election. O'Connell seemed to employ the same strategy, getting more votes in Tewksbury than either of the other candidates from Wilmington, but her inability to crack McCoy's solid base ultimately cost her the election by just 99 votes.

Kratman, meanwhile, led all candidates in votes from Tewksbury but finished dead last in Wilmington. And Wilmington Democratic Committee Chair Erika Johnson -- the race's lone progressive Democrat -- may have played spoiler, skimming 199 votes in Tewksbury and 334 votes in Wilmington easily could have swung the race to O'Connell or McCoy.

Unofficial Results - all precincts reporting

Prinzavalli has pushed the message that she is not a career politician and is likely to go after the fact that her 28-year-old opponent has only worked as a government employee since graduating college. Her "Taxpayers First" mantra may also appeal more to the conservative Democrats in Tewksbury who embraced Miceli for nearly 44 years. Robertson's primary showing in Wilmington, however, is also likely to come into play in the November general election.

Robertson will also need to make up ground in the fundraising game and convince donors who backed his Democratic opponents to open their checkbooks. Robertson had raised $8,440.00 from 82 donations on August 27, but his campaign spent a total of $10,870.05 out-of-pocket in campaign expenses during the reporting period. The campaign also has $7,168.22 in liabilities.

Prinzivalli, meanwhile, got a break in the money game when Erin Buckley, her primary opponent, dropped out of the race. Prinzivalli received 93 donations totaling $12,165 between April 1 and Aug. 17. Prinzivalli, had an ending balance of more than $15,000 at the close of the reporting period. Meuse, the independent candidate, had raised only $150, according to the Aug. 27 reports.

More on this story: Read Patch's pre-primary profiles of Pina Prinzivalli and David Robertson.

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Patch file photo submitted by Dave Robertson of Tewksbury.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).