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Patricia M. “Patty” Nolan ’80 started her career in Cambridge politics in 2005. More than 20 years later, she says her politics are still hard to pin down.

“I really view my role on Council as important in a number of areas, and yet I was also conscious that, given who I am, very hard to categorize, not easy to fill out on a score card,” Nolan said. “I’m a challenging candidate.”

Nolan has a long history in Cambridge — from attending Harvard as an undergraduate to serving 14 years on the School Committee and four years on the Council. She pitched herself as a middle ground candidate in the 2023 cycle, living up to her reputation as she mediated contentious arguments over single-family zoning in February.

But this year, Nolan is running without the backing of any powerful housing super PAC. While the Cambridge Citizens Coalition — an advocacy group opposed to some of the city’s most ambitious development proposals — endorsed Nolan in 2023, the group withheld their endorsement this cycle.

Nolan is aware that being the only incumbent not endorsed by either CCC or pro-development super PAC A Better Cambridge leaves her vulnerable in a field with 12 challengers.

“It’ll certainly make my job harder, because a lot of people do follow CCC and ABC, even though I’ve taken votes on both of them that have been very much in sync with who they are,” Nolan said.

“Since their approach to this is not as nuanced as I wish it was, it’ll be harder for me to get that message out to voters to discuss, you know, the multifamily zoning vote,” she added.

Representatives for ABC and CCC did not respond to requests for comment.

Nolan is once again positioning herself as a candidate who defies polarized labels, even though she recognizes her middle-of-the-road platform may pose a challenge to her reelection bid.

“The word polarization is used a lot, and I feel like we often decry polarization and oversimplification and lack of compromise in other areas of politics,” Nolan said. “We shouldn’t be rewarding it in Cambridge.”

February’s multifamily housing ordinance is the best example of Nolan’s efforts to compromise.

While Nolan voted alongside more pro-development councilors to pass the ordinance 8-1, she said her final vote does not tell the full story.

When a group of councilors said they had the votes to pass a more extreme version of the ordinance — allowing developers to build up to six-story developments — Nolan stepped in. She negotiated a compromise to lower the maximum height to four stories, eventually voting with seven other members to approve the measure.

“I had to vote for it because it’s unethical not to. That’s what compromise is about,” Nolan said.

Beyond her involvement on the multifamily zoning issue, Nolan cited her work on climate change and sustainability, bike infrastructure, and financial issues in a fiscally tight Cambridge as evidence of a strong track record on the Council.

“I’m really hoping there’s enough people who understand that we want someone who is thorough and nuanced, even if they don’t agree with every single vote that I’ve ever taken,” Nolan said. “I’m not sure anybody agrees with every vote everyone’s taken.”

Nolan’s platform for reelection includes universal childcare, increased access to apprenticeship programs in schools, and a pilot program that would bring geothermal energy to Cambridge as a way to increase environmental sustainability.

She believes her communication, transparency, and willingness to compromise are her strongest selling points as Cambridge residents go to the polls in November.

“I think my message is, if you want someone who works full time for you, who has proven to be effective behind the scenes, and also be willing to be out in front on issues, who is open and transparent about positions and votes and is willing to reject a kind of oversimplification of the issues, then I’m a great candidate, and one that definitely has earned another term,” Nolan said.

—Staff writer Shawn A. Boehmer can be reached at shawn.boehmer@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @ShawnBoehmer.

—Staff writer Jack B. Reardon can be reached at jack.reardon@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @JackBReardon.