Progressive Democrats retained a ten-seat margin on the Democratic City Committee in balloting last week by winning 12 seats in Ward 2 to make up for a loss of 12 seats in Ward 10.

Members of the losing Ward 2 slate petitioned for a recount yesterday. A switch of as few as ten votes could unseat many of the elected liberals.

The preliminary results mean the progressives, who have controlled the city committee since 1972, will continue to handpick new members of the city's election commission.

"Since the election commission can make it hard or easy for groups of people to vote, this was an important victory for students," committee member and City Councilor David Sullivan said last night.

Days of Yore

"If the election committees of days past were still in power, we wouldn't have had the kind of student voter registration and turnout that we've seen this year," Sullivan added.

The Anderson Pull

"We campaigned and the old-line slate didn't," Cliff Truesdale, elected on the Ward 2 reform slate, said last night. Truesdale added that the number of liberal Democrats who crossed party lines to vote for presidential candidate Rep. John B. Anderson (R-I11.) almost cost the slate its victory.

Inside Scoop

One of the city's four election commissioners, George Goverman, resigns tomorrow, and the city committee last month submitted a list of candidates to fill the vacancy to the city manager. Sources said Peter Sturgis, who managed the successful school committee campaign of liberal Alice Wolf last fall, has the best shot at the job.