With incumbent Councillors Jim Braude and Kathleen L. Born not running for reelection, Pitkin—who finished 12th out of more than 25 candidates in an unsuccessful run eight years ago—is trying to seize his best chance of gaining a seat.

He has gained the endorsements of the Cambridge Civic Association and the Cambridge Lavender Alliance, as well as the support of former Cambridge Mayor Francis H. Duehay ’55 and the outgoing Braude, who says Pitkin would be “a welcome addition to the council.”

Pitkin’s active community involvement as well as his citywide name recognition through the Pitkin Petition place him near the top of a field of 12 challengers hoping to gain a seat.

And Pitkin hopes to use his connections at the grassroots level to gain more support, with Mid-Cambridge as his strongest base.

“This is very much a people to people campaign,” Pitkin says.

—Staff writer Imtiyaz H. Delawala can be reached at delawala@fas.harvard.edu.