“There is so much animus against Toomey,” he says. “He’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer.”

“Tim Toomey is sort of like a Robin Hood guy. He wants to steal from the rich and give to the poor,” Slavitt says. “He is not in favor of PILOT [Payment In Lieu Of Taxes] and he wants Harvard to take in vastly more money than it does and he wants to give it to his constituency. Without Harvard or MIT, Cambridge basically is Everett or Somerville. It’s a great national ornament and it should be protected.”

Toomey is also being challenged by a fellow Democrat, Avi Green, a local political consultant who, like Slavitt, is launching his first campaign.

“Mr. Slavitt is running as he says—to bring a two-party system to the district,” says Josh Sugarman, Green’s campaign manager. “The Green campaign supports that completely and respects his desire to do so.”

Slavitt himself says it is too early to gauge Green’s chances in the election.

It is questionable, however, whether Slavitt’s own political career will be taking off anytime soon.

Slavitt is well-respected, says local political pundit Robert Winters, who edits the Cambridge Civic Journal. “Not that he stands a chance in hell of winning in a place like Cambridge,” Winters adds.

Toomey himself expressed ambivalence towards his challenger.

“I haven’t had the fortune to meet him yet,” Toomey says. But, he adds, “every election is a challenge.”

—Staff writer Michael M. Grynbaum can be reached at grynbaum@fas.harvard.edu