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The campaign to push ward committees to the left represents a broader shift of the political landscape in Boston, according to interviews with political analysts and insiders.

The effort, dubbed Fresh Slate," is trying to harness the grass-roots energy that has grown out of the frustration with national politics a movement that has produced a new swath of elected officials, including US Representative Ayanna Pressley and unleash it at the local level.

I think its the fact that were reaching a boiling point here in the city, of folks just tired of the same-old, same-old, said Segun Idowu, a Hyde Park resident and director of the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts, an advocacy group for the citys Black community.

Members of the existing ward committees in East Boston and Hyde Park, meanwhile, have teamed up to create their own unity slate, leading to rare local clashes on a ballot that has been overshadowed by the presidential primary.

Voters decide on ward committee members every four years, during a presidential election, and can vote for individual candidates or for a slate of candidates who organize as one team.

Idowu has joined a team of nearly three dozen new candidates looking to represent Ward 18, which includes Hyde Park and parts of Roslindale and Mattapan, saying the party could do more to reflect the neighborhoods values, as opposed to just talking about them.

The team includes local politicians who have already served as flag-bearers for the progressive movement, including City Councilor Michelle Wu, the councils top vote-getter in the last election. She has been mentioned as a potential challenger of Mayor Martin J. Walsh. Shes already a committee member but has joined the new slate of candidates pushing for more diverse representation.

Councilor Ricardo Arroyo, elected to represent the district in November, is also part of the new group. Though his family has been involved in local politics for decades, he believes he would be the first Arroyo to serve on the committee.

Similar campaigns have been mounted in the South End, downtown, and in East Boston.

The effort follows the recent history-making transformation of the City Council from a white, male-dominated panel just a few years ago to a body with its first-ever majority of women and councilors of color. At a time when Boston is grappling with a housing crisis and a transportation mess, the progressive ward candidates say their activism can push city government to act more boldly on reforms.

People are ready to embrace that Boston has shifted, and lets make it shift in more ways, said Rachel Poliner, of the Roslindale and West Roxbury chapter of Progressive Massachusetts. She said the independent growth of the Fresh Slate campaigns in separate neighborhoods shows a citywide desire for change.

Thomas M. Menino, the late mayor, was known to stock ward committees with hand-picked candidates, helping him influence who won local races, such as for district councilors and state representatives.

But newer, progressive candidates have been clashing with the local establishment in recent years, finding committee members to be out of touch.

Arroyo overcame the establishments support of his opponent in the fall election, for instance, and is now the first councilor to represent Hyde Park and not be a member of the committee. Likewise, City Councilor Lydia Edwards shocked the political establishment in East Boston with her first council win just over two years ago. She is also part of the new slate.

Several members of the current committees, including the chairs, welcomed the newfound interest in the committee positions, saying the excitement with local politics is the same reason they got involved. Yet they said they share the same policy visions with the newer progressive candidates. They believe that the new interest is centered more on the frustration with Washington, D.C., politics than on whats happening in Boston.

Anyone who wants to run for office is a good thing, said Rob Consalvo, a former city councilor and Boston Public Schools employee who runs the Ward 18 committee. He said his slate similarly includes locals from every one of the wards neighborhoods, including politicians, business people, and Little League coaches everyone who makes up the civic and social fabric of our community.

I just see it as a sign of people wanting to be involved, be engaged, and have a voice in the representation of their neighborhood, he said.

Claudia Correa, a member of the East Boston ward who also works for the city, agreed, saying the ward committee was the organization she went to when she was looking to get involved in neighborhood politics two decades ago.

Its great to see other peoples platforms its what were advocating for, too, she said. Were advocating for more housing, to have conversations about climate change, to be more diverse when were putting this all together . . . the people on the list represent what were all trying to accomplish here.

But the new candidates cited what they called a history of their committees failing to be truly inclusive of new residents, and often deferring to insiders or an old guard. Several complained that their committees arent active enough, dont promote their agendas, and dont look to excite the party with get-out-the-vote drives or other events.

Brian Gannon, who is behind the new effort in East Boston, identified as Group 2 on the ballot, said he has seen for the first time a movement thats based in the neighborhoods, and not centralized in City Hall.

We just felt [the East Boston committee] wasnt as active and representative of the neighborhood, as inclusive as wed like it to be, and wed like to see more advocacy coming from the ward committee standpoint, Gannon said. Theres a lot of our neighbors that made this a great place to live, and wed be better if we could represent them.

Milton J. Valencia can be reached at milton.valencia@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @miltonvalencia.

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