Bearded and chipper, with eyes flashing intelligence, Brian Murphy ’86-’87 represents a new generation in Cambridge’s legendary activist tradition—liberal, of course, but with a proudly pragmatic edge.

A lawyer and political consultant—once the quintessential behind-the-scenes man—Murphy is billed by pundits as the man to beat in this year’s Cambridge City Council race. In his favor, Murphy has high-powered friends, endorsements, and the key demographic of likely liberal supporters.

And Murphy’s unique connections in the local political scene could make him singularly effective on the campaign trail—although he’s not just counting on his numerous supporters, which range from the Carpenter’s Local 40 to the gay rights group The Lavender Alliance.

Murphy is personally getting out the vote—a key tactic for past first-time candidates who successfully nabbed a seat on the council.

“I’ve been spending most of my summer going door-to-door, which is a tremendous way to get to know the city of Cambridge,” Murphy says. “I’ve spoken with 1,300 people as well as leaving notes for thousands of others.”

Besides his eagerness to pound the pavement, Murphy has timing on his side. He is running on the slate of the Cambridge Civic Association (CCA), the local activist liberal party, in the same season that both four-term CCA veteran Councillor Kathleen L. Born and one-term CCA Councillor Jim Braude announced that they wouldn’t seek reelection.

The transition from campaign manager to candidate was a natural one for Murphy, according to Cambridge State Rep. Alice K. Wolf, whose 1996 campaign was one of many Murphy has worked on over the past 15 years.

“There are people who do the behind-the-scenes act who say, ‘Me? Run? Never?’” says Wolf, who has endorsed Murphy’s City Council bid. “Brian was never one of those people.”

The Family Connection

“I came to Cambridge to go to Harvard,” Murphy says. “But like a lot of people, I fell in love with the city and stayed.”

Murphy—whose father-in-law, Hale Champion, was Harvard’s vice president for finance—has plenty of ideas about how to improve the city government’s notoriously bad relationship with the University. Murphy also received an education on University dealings from Champion, he says.

“I think both sides—University and city—need to try to recast the relationship,” Murphy says. “I think some of the distrust that exists on both sides is born of an ignorance of sorts.”

Cambridge should consider new ways of obtaining funds from Harvard, beyond the age-old, tension-causing annual in-lieu-of-tax payments the University gives the city, Murphy says. Still, he considers some attempts unrealistic, like the bill currently in the State House that would prevent non-for-profits from attaining non-taxable status on large property acquisitions.