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Tens of thousands of voters turned out to cast ballots in one of the most crowded Cambridge elections in recent history — with 20 candidates vying for nine seats on City Council and 18 candidates for six School Committee seats.
Many of the candidates named housing, bike lanes, and the recent superintendent search as their top issues. The Crimson interviewed more than two dozen voters outside of Cambridge Rindge and Latin School and found that housing and bike safety were on the top of voters’ minds.
Voters were generally less opinionated about the School Committee, following trends from past years, where School Committee races have seen somewhat lower turnout. In 2023, around 23,000 valid ballots were cast for City Council and 21,000 valid ballots were cast for School Committee.
Several voters said that they did not have ana particular issue they were concerned about for the School Committee, but those who did cited the recent superintendent search as an important issue.
The superintendent search, which lasted for more than a full year, was filled with controversy. The union representing CPS faculty and staff called for a restart of the search in August over concerns of transparency, claiming that families and educators were left “in the dark.”
About two weeks ago, a Cambridge parent listserv revealed that the City of Cambridge paid an extra $40,000 to the search firm leading the superintendent search without the knowledge of all School Committee members.
“I don’t currently have a kid in the public schools, so I was talking to friends, and kind of went with the sense that the last superintendent search was very badly flawed,” Felicity Lufgain, a 30-year Cambridge resident, said. “Pretty much went with no incumbents.”
Almost all interviewees cited housing affordability as their primary concern for City Council. In February, the Council ended single-family zoning, one of the most sweeping of several major policies passed in recent years to combat the severe regional housing crisis.
Elan Rodman said new housing development was a key issue for him. “There needs to be more of it that’s reasonably priced, and it’s reasonably affordable for all different kinds of families and people from all different socioeconomic backgrounds,” he said.
But some voters expressed concern about housing development.
Froilan Decan, who has lived in Cambridge for the past six years, said, “I don’t want 20-story high buildings in Cambridge. This is a historical city. I’m okay with four-story high, five-story high, six-story high, but 20-story, 18-story high, absolutely no.”
Some renters voting on Tuesday said housing affordability was at their top of mind so that they might one day own a home in a city where the average home value is currently at least a million dollars.
“As someone who wants to be able to stay in Cambridge and has rented in Cambridge but aspires to own in Cambridge, I care a lot about policies that promote affordable housing,” Lucas Carmel said.
Several voters also said that they made their choices based on bicycle safety issues, which have recently gained more prominence after three cyclists died in Cambridge over the past two years.
Cambridge Bicycle Safety, one of Cambridge’s largest super PACs, has pushed for the completion of the Cycling Safety Ordinance Network, an expansive network of bike lanes, by November 2026. Every candidate endorsed by CBS committed to completing it on that timeline.
“I looked at the mailer I got about the bike champions,” Kelly Zeilman, whose key issue in the election is bike lanes, said.
Other candidates have found the increase in bike lanes disruptive to the city.
“Bike lanes — I have one in front of my house, and I don’t like that,” said David Stafford-Parkin, who said he has been in the city for over three decades.
“Slow down with putting in more bike lanes,” said Sam Wolff.
Voters exiting the poll station said they felt confident in their City Council votes regardless of the issues at the forefront of their minds.
“I just felt very grateful to live in Cambridge because I feel like I know who most of the candidates were,” Deidre Tao said.
“I’ve had the opportunity to vote for them before, and then the ones that I didn’t know about sent me postcards or dropped by. They even sent canvassing teenagers to talk and I just really appreciate that personal touch,” she added.
—Staff writer Ann E. Gombiner can be reached at annie.gombiner@thecrimson.com.
—Staff writer Dionise Guerra-Carrillo can be reached at dionise.guerracarrillo@thecrimson.com.
