With 40-Vote Lead, MacKay Declares Victory Over Decker in State Rep. Primary Race

Updated September 4, 2024, at 1:07 a.m.

Former Harvard labor leader Evan C. MacKay ’19 held a 40-vote lead over incumbent Massachusetts State Rep. Marjorie C. Decker in the Democratic primary race just before 1 a.m. on Wednesday morning with 99 percent of votes counted, according to the Associated Press.

Though the AP had not officially called the closely-watched race, MacKay — the former president of Harvard’s graduate students union — declared victory in a speech to supporters at a Central Square bar Tuesday evening.

MacKay’s victory in the 25th Middlesex District would be a shocking upset and unseat a six-term incumbent in Decker, who had the support of some of the biggest names in Massachusetts politics, including Governor Maura T. Healey ’92, Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and a majority of the City Council.

If MacKay wins, it would amount to a stunning rebuke of not just Decker, who has represented the district since 2013, but of the entire Massachusetts political establishment, which united around Decker as she faced the biggest threat to her 25-year political career to date.

Despite a lack of official vote tallies, MacKay declared victory just past 10 p.m. Their campaign manager said that campaign volunteers had made notes of vote totals at polling places across the city showing MacKay in the lead.

“Let us celebrate the work that we have done over so many months,” MacKay said in a speech to supporters. “We are proud and we are confident to announce that our movement has won this election.”

Ryan Telingator, Decker’s campaign manager, declined to comment on MacKay’s declaration of victory but emphasized that not all ballots had been counted.

Initially, the mood at Decker’s election night party was somber and conciliatory, with some of Decker’s campaign staff in tears at the apparent upset. While Decker acknowledged the gloomy mood, she did not explicitly concede the race.

“I’m not shedding any tears,” Decker said to supporters early in the night. “I’ve had 25 incredible years of doing what I love.”

But by the end of the party, the tone had shifted dramatically, with Decker and her supporters dancing and appearing to celebrate.

Still, the tight margin was a sobering reminder of how Decker, who before Tuesday had never dipped below 83 percent of the vote in a primary, was bruised by a challenger who portrayed her as untransparent and unaccountable.

Decker has been a fixture of Cambridge politics since she was first elected to the City Council in 1999. A state representative since 2013 and the chair of the powerful Joint Committee on Public Health, she campaigned largely on her health care record, including a sweeping maternal health bill recently signed into law by Healey. She also had an enormous cash advantage throughout the race.

MacKay, running to Decker’s left, highlighted their support for progressive policies such as rent stabilization, universal healthcare, and higher corporate taxes.

However, MacKay’s biggest tactical advantage was making government transparency the campaign’s central issue, tying Decker to criticisms of Beacon Hill’s opaque legislative processes and throwing her on the defensive.

Decker was also forced to navigate scrutiny late in the race after the Cambridge Day reported that she received at least $800,000 between 2016 and 2023 from Boston law firm Berman Tabacco. Neither Decker nor the firm had previously publicly acknowledged her income.

In addition, Decker faced backlash from some Cambridge residents over her perceived lack of support for the Saturday closures of Memorial Drive to vehicle traffic to allow cyclists and pedestrians full use of the roadway.

But for Pete Nigro, who voted at Cambridge Rindge and Latin School, Decker’s stance on the heated debates over Cambridge roadways ultimately won him over.

“I have a car, and I feel like cars are being squeezed out,” Nigro said, “and that means families are being squeezed out of Cambridge.”

Other voters outside CRLS said they opted for MacKay due to the insurgent candidate’s energetic field strategy and their progressive bona fides.

Jeremy Rotman, a Harvard Law School student, said he voted for MacKay because they are “more progressive,” and because Mackay’s campaign “made efforts to reach out to people, which not always is a good sign, but for me, was a good sign means that they’re involved and they care.”

—Staff writers Aran Sonnad-Joshi and Sheerea X. Yu contributed reporting.

—Staff writer Benjamin Isaac can be reached at benjamin.isaac@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @benjaminisaac_1.

—Staff writer Matan H. Josephy can be reached matan.josephy@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @matanjosephy.

—Staff writer Avani B. Rai can be reached at avani.rai@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @avaniiiirai.