In their second try at unseating state representative Marjorie Decker to represent the 25th Middlesex District in Cambridge, challenger Evan MacKay posted a video Friday responding to allegations made by the incumbent in political forums and an essay in The Harvard Crimson.
“Their attacks are getting kind of weird,” MacKay says in the video.
Decker said voters “deserve to know more about why [MacKay] didn’t vote in the most consequential presidential election in our lifetime,” confirming July 27 that she meant “the 2024 general election that returned Donald Trump to power, despite speaking frequently about the harms of his administration and voting in that year’s Democratic primary.” Decker also noted MacKay’s past political registration as a Republican.
The MacKay campaign shared documentation from Cambridge’s Election Commission showing they did vote Nov. 5, 2024, the seventh time they voted in Cambridge since 2021. “Kamala Harris wasn’t my perfect presidential candidate, but I volunteered for her and I voted for her in November because we all know how dangerous Trump is,” MacKay said.
It is part of MacKay’s story as a candidate that they “grew up as a closeted LGBTQ+ kid in a conservative part of Florida,” and in the video MacKay said that there they “answered the call of local racial justice activists to participate in our local competitive elections and vote for the lesser of two evils in the closed Republican primaries.”
Decker said MacKay “did not mention” at a recent debate that “they remained registered as a Republican for at least five years after moving to Cambridge.” MacKay said Thursday that they would not have mentioned such a thing, because it is “not the case. I have never been a registered Republican in Massachusetts.” MacKay said they moved to Cambridge at 18.
It is left to voters in the Sept. 1 primary – there are no other candidates in the November general election – to decide the value of Decker highlighting the Republican past of a nonbinary Democratic Socialist labor organizer who leads the Cambridge Democratic City Committee.
MacKay is trying again to unseat Decker after coming within less than 50 votes of it two years ago. On Saturday came a 100-volunteer canvass headlined by Varshini Prakash, co-founder and former executive director of national youth climate activist group the Sunrise Movement; the MacKay campaign said volunteers knocked on more than 2,700 doors across Cambridge, making it the largest single canvass ever organized by a state representative campaign in Massachusetts history. The event featured the announcement of endorsements by Sunrise Boston, the Massachusetts Teachers Association and Our Revolution Massachusetts.
Barber’s big endorsements
State representative Christine Barber, running to replace Pat Jehlen as she retires after 21 years from her 2nd Middlesex District state Senate seat, announced two big endorsements Thursday: Jehlen herself, and governor Maura Healey.
“I don’t usually endorse in legislative races, but in this case I think the person who is best prepared and has proven that she is best prepared to carry the fight for affordable housing, affordable health care and affordable living in general is Christine Barber,” Jehlen said.
In a Saturday political forum, Barber – elected to the Somerville-Medford 34th Middlesex District in 2015 – suggested repeatedly that she was the heir to the seat of Jehlen, a colleague and occasional partner in lawmaking. On Thursday, she made the connection even more direct, saying: “Pat and I have worked together for years – we co-wrote the pay equity bill, Laura’s Law, and secured funding for Clarendon Hill. Having her support as we approach Election Day is one of the most meaningful moments of the campaign so far.”
Healey, quoted in a Thursday press release, said Barber “knows how to get things done, whether it’s making health care more affordable, building more housing, protecting reproductive freedom or standing up for working families.”
Fellow state representative Erika Uyterhoeven, from Somerville’s 27th Middlesex District, Cambridge vice mayor Burhan Azeem and Somerville city councilor Matt McLaughlin all are running against Barber to replace Jehlen.
Decker birthday party fundraiser
The Marjorie Decker campaign for reelection announced on Wednesday, Decker’s birthday, a Birthday Party Fundraiser taking place next week – at 6 p.m. Wednesday – at Daedalus, 45½ Mount Auburn St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Decker is running to represent the 25th Middlesex District. She has held the seat since 2013 and has a Democratic primary next month against second-time challenger Evan MacKay.
“With the clock winding down before Sept. 1, there is no better birthday gift than helping us make sure Marjorie has the resources and support she needs to keep doing what she has always done: fight for our community and deliver results,” the email said. “If you can’t make it, you can still help us celebrate her birthday by making a contribution to the campaign.”
Three officials flip to Lander
Three Watertown city councilors have switched endorsements to the challenger in the Suffolk and Middlesex District state Senate race to be decided in the Democratic primary Sept. 1.
Councilors John Gannon, Theo Offei and Tony Palomba, who had backed incumbent Will Brownsberger – in office since 2009 – opted to switch to first-timer Daniel Lander. They offered statements to a Lander campaign press release put out Tuesday against the status quo on Beacon Hill as “leaving working families behind,” in the words of Offei.
“It’s incredibly rare to flip an endorsement, and it shows the strength of the coalition that we’ve built,” Lander said.
The district includes Watertown and Belmont and parts of Cambridge and Boston.
About the race districts
The 2nd Middlesex (a state Senate seat held by Pat Jehlen, in the office since 2005 but is retiring) includes the cities of Somerville and Medford; and parts of Cambridge and Winchester. Sought by: Burhan Azeem, Christine Barber, Matt McLaughlin, Erika Uyterhoeven
The 24th Middlesex (a state House seat held by Dave Rogers, in the office since 2013) includes parts of North Cambridge and Arlington and all of Belmont. Sought by: Nomita Ganguly
The 25th Middlesex (a state House seat held by Marjorie Decker, in the office since 2013) includes the central slice of Cambridge, following Massachusetts Avenue from Central Square through Harvard Square and just past Porter Square. Sought by: Evan MacKay
The 26th Middlesex (a state House seat held by Mike Connolly, in the office since 2017) includes East Cambridge and East Somerville. Sought by: Neil Miller
The 27th Middlesex (a state House seat held by Erika Uyterhoeven, in the office since 2021 but running for Jehlen’s state Senate seat) includes much of Somerville. Sought by: Ben Ewen-Campen, Olivia Gilligan-Corsetti
The 34th Middlesex (a state House seat held by Christine Barber, in the office since 2015 but running for Jehlen’s state Senate seat) includes parts of Somerville and Medford. Sought by: Will Mbah, Christopher Oates, Paul Ruseau
The Suffolk and Middlesex (a state Senate seat held by Will Brownsberger, in office since 2009 and running for reelection) includes the cities of Watertown and Belmont and parts of Cambridge and Boston. Sought by: Daniel Lander, Brandon Wood
This post was updated July 31, 2026, to reflect a change of venue for political forums.
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