Harvard College Dems Endorse Candidates for Cambridge City Council, School Committee

The Harvard College Democrats endorsed three challengers for local office last week — the club’s latest foray into Cambridge politics amid an increasingly competitive local election cycle.

The club announced its support for City Council candidates Ayah Al-Zubi ’23 and Stanislav Rivkin alongside School Committee challenger Caitlin E. Dube ’05 in a Friday Instagram post.

“Each of these candidates represent the progressive, justice-centered leadership that we believe Cambridge needs right now,” Mandy Zhang ’27, president of the Harvard College Democrats, said in an interview.

Candidates were nominated for an endorsement through a questionnaire and then voted on by the Harvard College Democrats’ full membership in mid-September. A candidate had to receive the support of at least two-thirds of club members in order to be endorsed.

Zhang, a former Crimson News editor, added that the Harvard College Democrats hope to motivate students to get involved in local politics, even as Harvard’s reputation remains “super national.”

“I think it’s also super important to support local candidates as well because those are where the support is actually really going to be needed,” she said. “They don’t have as much money compared to national U.S. Senate campaigns.”

The Harvard College Democrats typically endorse candidates in races for Congress or the White House, and the club directed canvassing efforts and phonebanks for Democrats across the country in 2024.

Still, the club has waded into races around Cambridge and Boston for years. The Harvard College Democrats endorsed five Cambridge City Council candidates in 2021, and forcefully supported Harvard labor leader Evan C. MacKay ’19 last fall in their fierce but ultimately unsuccessful run for state representative against incumbent Marjorie C. Decker.

Al-Zubi was the only local candidate endorsed by the Harvard College Democrats when she ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2023, and she sought the group’s support again this year in an effort to mobilize student voters.

“We believe that young people and students have a critical role to play, and we want them engaged,” Al-Zubi said. “There’s such a powerful role that our young people play in politics, and local politics is no exception to that.”

Rivkin, the other City Council candidate, said that he hoped the Harvard College Democrats’ endorsement could weigh against the influence of super PACs and other independent groups on local races.

“It really requires a tremendous grassroots effort in order to re-envision how we think about local politics and to readjust some of the balance of power that exists in Cambridge politics right now, which is largely dominated by a number of super PACs and to the exclusion of the voices in the city’s working class,” Rivkin said.

“We’re going to need all the support that we can possibly get from the Harvard Dems and other folks on campus for our particular races,” he added.

Both Al-Zubi and Rivkin have been endorsed by Cambridge Bicycle Safety, a super PAC that advocates for cyclist safety and expanded bicycle lanes in Cambridge.

Dube, the School Committee candidate, said she learned about the endorsement opportunity from her campaign manager, an undergraduate at Suffolk University in Boston. Rivkin’s campaign also includes Harvard students, including several volunteers who are involved with the Harvard College Democrats.

Dube added that she hopes the Harvard College Democrats’ endorsement will bring increased attention to her campaign on Harvard’s campus.

“I'm hoping that students at Harvard will get excited about my candidacy and come out and help me canvas or volunteer in other ways,” she said.

—Staff writer Ann E. Gombiner can be reached at annie.gombiner@thecrimson.com.