If you are interested in some more analysis, I created some maps showing the voter turnout increase vs. the voter persuasion increase for the mayoral special election.

http://voterproject.org/vp_post/2014-special-mayoral-analysis/

Basically, what the maps show is that persuasion, converting voters who would normally vote Democrat to vote Republican , was not the deciding factor — the deciding factor was turnout. Republicans managed to be much more effectively increase their turnout compared to Democrats. It was an enthusiasm gap, not a persuasiveness gap.