In Shocking Twist, Decker Pulls Ahead of MacKay by 41 Votes

Updated September 4, 2024, at 11:37 p.m.

Incumbent State Representative Marjorie C. Decker pulled ahead of progressive challenger Evan C. MacKay ’19 by a razor-thin margin Wednesday afternoon, marking a shocking twist to one of Massachusetts’ most closely watched races.

Decker emerged up 41 votes after the Cambridge Election Commission counted remaining ballots Wednesday afternoon, essentially flipping MacKay’s 40-vote lead as of early Wednesday morning.

The updated tally comes after a whirlwind night for both campaigns. With 99 percent of votes counted, MacKay declared victory in a speech to supporters several hours after polls closed on Tuesday.

Jay Cincotti, a Decker adviser, said in a Wednesday statement on behalf of the campaign that they are “certainly encouraged” by the update but wants “to give the process time to work itself out.”

“We’re not going to declare victory until this entire process is over,” Cincotti added.

Cincotti’s comments appeared to be a not-so-subtle jab at MacKay for prematurely claiming victory at their election night watch party.

“Our movement has won this election,” they said on Tuesday.

The MacKay campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment Wednesday.

With only 40 votes separating MacKay and Decker Tuesday night, confusion reigned over the results of the race. The Cambridge Day similarly called the race for MacKay early Wednesday morning.

However, numbers revealed by the Cambridge Election Commission on Wednesday afternoon — updated with several hundred new votes — had Decker ahead by 41. The AP has not yet called the outcome of the race.

Even if Decker is eventually confirmed as the winner of the election, the razor-thin margin marks the incumbent’s closest campaign since her entry into Cambridge politics 25 years ago. The 41-vote difference falls just outside of the 0.5 percent threshold to allow for either campaign to request a district-wide recount.

Still, other options exist to request more specific recounts. Both campaigns have until Friday to submit signatures requesting ward-level recounts within the 25th Middlesex.

Decker has never fallen below 83 percent of the vote in a primary election since assuming state office in 2013. But MacKay’s challenge — driven by an army of volunteer door-knockers and a potent message that slammed Decker as weak on government transparency — proved near-fatal for her career.

Before MacKay’s campaign, the closest Decker ever came to wiping out of Cambridge politics was in 2009.

In what was attributed to “internal confusion” that year, her campaign failed to file City Council nomination papers on time, forcing Decker to run a hastily-assembled write-in campaign to save her seat.

Decker placed 5th in first-round votes that year — easily securing a spot on the 9-member City Council. It would be her toughest race until MacKay declared their run.

Though Decker may likely keep her office on Beacon Hill, the results are certain to prove as a wake-up call for the career politician who, until this cycle, had never had to worry about reelection.

They similarly indicate the fallibility of the city’s political establishment. Decker was supported by a majority of the Cambridge City Council — including Mayor E. Denise Simmons and Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern — alongside Gov. Maura T. Healey ’92 and progressive firebrand Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.).

The Election Commission has until Saturday to certify the vote.

Correction: September 4, 2024

A previous version of this article stated that the margin between Decker and MacKay was within the 0.5 percent margin to allow for a district-wide recount. In fact, the vote difference was just outside the threshold for a district-wide recount.

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