County Councilmember George Leventhal

A 90-second outburst by County Councilmember George Leventhal—captured on video six weeks before the Democratic primary—became fodder for an anonymous Web parodist and a source of widespread clucking in political circles. During a council hearing, Leventhal criticized the “body language” of county Management and Budget Director Jennifer Hughes. Aggravated by the county’s slow pace in updating mobile software, Leventhal then turned to a Department of Technology Services official and angrily demanded, “What year is this? What year is it? What year is it?” Leventhal’s temper tantrum came as he was considered politically vulnerable, and reinforced reports of testy behavior in private sessions. He did survive the primary—finishing fourth in the race for four at-large Democratic nominations—but finished well out of the running for happy warrior of Campaign 2014.