[{"slug": "jia-jing-lee", "name": "Jia-Jing Lee", "blurb": "

Dr. Jia-Jing Lee earned her PhD studying the genetics of thyroid cancer and moved to Cambridge in 2009, during her Postdoc Fellowship at Harvard Medical School.

Jia-Jing is parent of two CPS students, including one with special needs. An early bad experience with the Individualized Education Program led her to home school for several years, before her children returned to CPS. Jia-Jing's child was a student at Kenney-Longfellow leading up to its closure.

She speaks four languages, has lived in five countries, and her campaign website supports eight languages.

", "img_url": "/media/lee.jpg", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "louise-venden", "name": "Louise Venden", "blurb": "

Although her nomination papers were rejected on the final day of eligibility, Louise Venden is running a write-in campaign for City Council. She has previously served as a member of Provincetown's Select Board and on Provincetown's Finance Committee. Louise promises to \"bridge the divide,\" having worked with ABC in the past while accepting CCC's endorsement this cycle.

Outside of politics, she has experience as a real estate bank loan officer.

", "img_url": "/media/louise-square-image2x.jpg", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "arjun-jaikumar", "name": "Arjun Jaikumar", "blurb": "

Arjun Jaikumar is a 20-year Cambridge resident, Massachusetts native, and parent to a 4th grade CPS student. He currently serves as Assistant Attorney General for Massachusetts. He earned his JD from Columbia, worked at Wilmer Hale for several years, and clerked on the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Arjun currently serves on the Graham and Parks School Council and has coached Cambridge Youth Soccer.

He has been a vocal critic of the current School Committee, particularly around the superintendent search and communication around the closure of the Kennedy-Longfellow school.

", "img_url": "/media/arjun.jpg", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "alborz-bejnood", "name": "Alborz Bejnood", "blurb": "

Alborz Bejnood is a computational scientist at a Tango Therapeutics, a Boston-based cancer drug biotechnology company. He is the son of two public school teachers.

", "img_url": "/media/alborz.jpg", "img_alt": "headshot of Alborz", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "melanie-gause", "name": "Melanie Gause", "blurb": "

Melanie Gause doesn't have a lot of internet presence, nor did she attend the forums that drew over 10 candidates.

She is an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church. LaQueen Battle has mentioned support for her on Instagram.

", "img_url": "/media/MelG.jpg", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "stanislav-rivkin", "name": "Stanislav Rivkin", "blurb": "

Stanislav \"Stan\" Rivkin was born in Uzbekistan and immigrated to the US when he was young. Stan credits his family's experience navigating social services and building community with his desire to run for office and his platform centers around the preservation and expansion of Cambridge's social programs. For example, Stan organized and delivered a petition opposing the closing of the Transitional Wellness Center/Spaulding Shelter.

Rivkin is a vocal critic of the Trump administration and has asserted that Cambridge the city's response to the Trump administration has been \"inadequate\".

Throughout his career, Stan has mostly worked in higher education and its administration and he currently serves as Associate Director of Admissions at Harvard Graduate School of Education.

", "img_url": "/media/Screenshot_2025-09-17_at_9.04.17PM.png", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "jose-luis-rojas-villarreal", "name": "Jos\u00e9 Luis Rojas Villarreal", "blurb": "

Jos\u00e9 Luis Rojas Villarreal was first elected to School Committee in 2019. He has lived in Cambridge for 25 years, and his sons attended CRLS and Amigos. He served on School Councils for seven years and has a background in community development finance and banking.

Jos\u00e9 Luis also has extensive experience serving on various non-profit and community boards. He is bilingual and places an emphasis in multicultural experience.

", "img_url": "/media/jose.jpg", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "caroline-hunter", "name": "Caroline Hunter", "blurb": "

Caroline Hunter moved to Massachusetts decades ago. She worked as a research bench chemist for the Polaroid Corporation in Cambridge in the '70s, and founded a worker movement that convinced Polaroid to divest from Apartheid.

She retired in 2010, after decades of working in education in a wide range of roles, from math teacher to Assistant Principal of CRLS. She also co-founded the Benjamin Banneker Charter School.

Her child attended Cambridge Public Schools from Kindergarten through High School.

Caroline first ran for School Committee in 2021; she was seated in 2022 after Akriti Bhambi resigned. She is currently serving as vice chair (the chair is automatically the Mayor of the City Council).

", "img_url": "/media/hunter.jpg", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "cathie-zusy", "name": "Catherine \"Cathie\" Zusy", "blurb": "

A Cambridge resident for over 25 years, Cathie Zusy is a former museum curator who has been very active in local boards and organizations for many years, including Magazine Beach Partners and the Cambridgeport Neighborhood Association. Indeed, she is sometimes known as the \"Magazine Beach Lady\" for her years-long efforts to secure public investment for the revitalization of Magazine Beach Park along the Charles River. She was also previously on the board of Cambridge Day.

Cathie was sworn into her seat on City Council in the fall 2024 after the passing of Joan Pickett. (In Cambridge's system, vacancies are treated as similar to a re-run of the ballots, instead of requiring a special election or appointment.)

While now a registered Democrat, she has previously voted in Republican primary elections.

", "img_url": "/media/catherine-zusy.5c51a096ddfc.png", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "marc-mcgovern", "name": "Marc McGovern", "blurb": "

Marc McGovern was born in Cambridge and has spent much of the last two decades in elected office, first on the School Committee and then on the City Council. He is also active in the Cambridge Democratic City Committee.

Outside of politics, Marc is a licensed social worker, and has continued to work part-time as one while on the council. He's now a consultant with the Suffolk County Juvenile Court, conducting family assessments for families involved in the foster care system.

As the second most tenured councillor, Marc has built his political career on making himself available to constituents.

", "img_url": "/media/marc-mcgovern.347688683213.png", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "caitlin-dube", "name": "Caitlin Dube", "blurb": "

Caitlin Dube is an \"equity-driven\" school and curriculum designer who previously worked as a teacher and administrator. She is parent to a 5th grader and co-chaired the Baldwin School Council.

A graduate of both Harvard College and Harvard Graduate School of Education, Dube is a proponent of project-based learning and the use of flexible scheduling to meet students where they are.

", "img_url": "/media/dube.jpg", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "patty-nolan", "name": "Patricia \"Patty\" Nolan", "blurb": "

Patty Nolan grew up in Chicago and Connecticut. She first moved to Cambridge to attend Harvard, graduating in 1980. Patty then lived and worked in New York City, and attended Yale for business school. She has worked in corporate consulting at McKinsey and the non-profit sector.

Patty returned to Cambridge in 1991, and has been actively involved in local politics since, for instance serving on the Board of Cambridge School Volunteers. She was first elected to the school committee in 2005 and served for almost 14 years. She has served three terms on City Council and seeks her fourth.

On the council, she has pushed back against \"either-or\" framing, casting herself as a moderating, nuanced voice within binary debates.

She is a landlord; she rents out the second unit in her two-family home.

", "img_url": "/media/patty.jpg", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "ned-melanson", "name": "Ned Melanson", "blurb": "

Ned Melanson is a public defender and disability attorney running as a first-time challenger. He rents in Cambridgeport and is on strike with the Massachusetts Bar Advocates.

A self-described \"all-around progressive urbanist,\" Melanson is running on three core platforms: safe and accessible streets, more housing of all kinds, and bracing the city for the effects of the federal administration.

", "img_url": "/media/Screenshot_2025-09-17_at_8.33.42PM.png", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "ayah-al-zubi", "name": "Ayah Al-Zubi", "blurb": "

Ayah Al-Zubi moved to Cambridge to attend Harvard, from which she graduated in May 2023. She has been involved in after-school sports programs in area schools, for instance coaching a basketball program at Baldwin Elementary School (through Harvard\u2019s Phillips Brooks House Association).

She ran for city council in 2023 and was eliminated in the final round of transfers.

Ayah is a member of Boston DSA and advocates for Democratic Socialism.

", "img_url": "/media/Screenshot_2025-09-21_at_5.50.09PM.png", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "anne-coburn", "name": "Anne Coburn", "blurb": "

Anne Coburn moved to Cambridge in 2019 from New York City with her husband and daughter, Zora. The family sought better educational opportunities for Zora, who has severe dyslexia, and developed an IEP (individualized educational program) at Cambridge\u2019s Kennedy-Longfellow School that they felt supported their daughters needs. The school\u2019s recent closure led Coburn to become a regular presence at School Committee meetings and, eventually, to launch her own campaign.

Her career spans more than a decade as a documentary filmmaker and producer, and she now serves as Chief Operating Officer of a medical-device startup based in Ohio. Earlier in her career, she taught film studies at CUNY Bronx Community College and other institutions.

She writes a very detailed newsletter intended as a public resource.

", "img_url": "/media/250714i-Anne-Coburn.jpg", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "dana-bullister", "name": "Dana Bullister", "blurb": "

Dana Bullister is a second-time challenger. A policy design researcher and data scientist now pursuing her PhD at Northeastern, Dana is a longtime renter in Cambridge. She does not own a car and gets around via multimodal transit.

During her time in Cambridge, Dana has worked at various tech companies and is active in the local innovation scene. She volunteers extensively and currently serves as the chair of the board of the YWCA. She has exhaustive policy proposals on her campaign website, and is the only candidate to take a stance on goat grazing policy. She is a member of a graduate student union.

In her first run in 2021, Dana accepted an endorsement from Cambridge Citizens Coalition. Dana went on to disavow CCC's public behavior in a Medium comment. She did not seek CCC's endorsement in 2025.

", "img_url": "/media/Screenshot_2025-09-17_at_8.26.47PM.png", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "elizabeth-bisio", "name": "Elizabeth Bisio", "blurb": "

Elizabeth Bisio is a startup founder, tech executive, and former ER nurse renting in Cambridge Crossing. She has not filled out any candidate questionnaires published to public domain (yet).

Elizabeth is a first time candidate. In interviews, she has said the City should \"slow down\" implementation of the Cycling Safety Organization, and instead focus on intersections. She is against any project that eliminates parking \"without clear alternatives.\" She is running as part of the Repeal Slate to roll back the Multifamily Housing Ordinance.

She has a Springer Spaniel, a cat, and two horses.

", "img_url": "/media/bisio.jpg", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "luisa-de-paula-santos", "name": "Luisa de Paula Santos", "blurb": "

Although born in Brazil, Luisa de Paula Santos grew up in Miami and remained there through college. She moved to Massachusetts around 2018 to pursue a master\u2019s degree in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning at Tufts University.

Since 2023, de Paula Santos has worked as a paraeducator for young children with autism, first at Fletcher Maynard Academy in Cambridge and now in the AIM autism program in Somerville. Before entering education, she worked with several labor unions, including SEIU, where she helped recruit union members from Cambridge schools.

", "img_url": "/media/luisa.jpg", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "laqueen-battle", "name": "LaQueen Battle", "blurb": "

LaQueen Battle is a first-time candidate for both City Council and School Committee. A Certified Nursing Assistant/Medical Assistant and CHA resident, LaQueen's run for Council and School Committee is informed by her experience with navigating housing insecurity and social services as a domestic violence survivor, and in community activism.

", "img_url": "/media/Screenshot_2025-09-17_at_8_unu1EPg.55.32PM.png", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "alex-bowers", "name": "Alex Bowers", "blurb": "

Alex Bowers is perhaps best known for her time as a local journalist covering mostly Cambridge Public Schools.

She is parent to two CRLS students and served on two CPS School Councils (CRLS currently) and one year on the School Council for the Community Charter School of Cambridge. She helped co-write the 2025 CRLS Family Handbook and the 2023 CPS School Council Handbook, and volunteers locally with various organizations.

She previously taught at a grammar school in Lahore and at a high school in Changsha, Hunan Province.

", "img_url": "/media/alex.jpg", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "jivan-sobrinho-wheeler", "name": "Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler", "blurb": "

Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler has lived in Cambridge since 2017 and has served two non-consecutive terms on the city council, elected in 2019 in 2023.

Professionally, Jivan has worked as a field and operations manager for a mayoral campaign in New Haven, Connecticut, and as New England Progressive Governance Director for the Working Families Party. Before moving to Cambridge, he worked at consultancy groups in Portland, Maine and the New York City area.

Jivan has worked with Our Revolution Cambridge and is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. He also speaks three languages.

", "img_url": "/media/jivan-sobrinho-wheeler.485805737516.png", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "elizabeth-hudson", "name": "Elizabeth Hudson", "blurb": "

Elizabeth Hudson has a background in Science, Technology, and Policy.

She has recently been a CTO of a biotech venture capital firm in Boston, and served on the Advisory Board for the Harvard/Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. She is also, currently, a Lieutenant in the United States Navy Reserve.

In 2017, Elizabeth was honored as a \"30 under 30\" in Law & Policy by Forbes (under Elizabeth Clark-Polner). She has not worked in Education directly.

(Note: Her husband was listed as being on the advisory team of the Cambridge Citizens Coalition, who endorsed her campaign, until October 24th. That was apparently an error, and has now been corrected.)

She has 3 boys and is expecting a 4th child.

", "img_url": "/media/Screenshot_2025-09-17_at_8.50.03PM.png", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "eugenia-schraa-huh", "name": "Eugenia Schraa Huh", "blurb": "

Eugenia Schraa Huh (rhymes with \"Algebra\") is a CPS parent and previously taught high school in the Bronx. She most recently worked as the Director of Constituent Services in the Office of the Mayor, and previously worked with the Cambridge Nonprofit Coalition and the Kendall Square Association. She is a graduate of Harvard College and Fordham School of Law, and served on the Board of the Margaret Fuller House. Both her legal and constituent services work involved serving families facing homelessness.

Before joining the Mayor's Office, she led a multi-year effort to expand afterschool offerings in Cambridge. She created Cambridge Kids Help, an oft-cited resource for how to approach school lotteries, among other topics. She also writesa data-heavy newsletter, and has argued that data suggest Fletcher Maynard may be in danger.

Schraa Huh sought office for the first in 2023 and made it to the seventh of nine rounds of counts determining the final six committee members.

", "img_url": "/media/Schraa-167307756.jpg", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "ayesha-wilson", "name": "Ayesha Wilson", "blurb": "

Ayesha Wilson grew up in Cambridge public housing and attended Cambridge Rindge and Latin. She earned a Master's in Social Work and has worked as Mental Health Clinician and a Senior Teacher-Counselor for Cambridge Housing Authority's Work Force Program, an after-school educational enrichment and work-readiness program for low-income teens in Cambridge public housing.

Ayesha is seeking re-election after serving her first term on the Council. She is the only active union member among incumbents and she's the 3rd Black woman to serve. Prior to being elected to the Council, Ayesha served two terms on the School Committee.

", "img_url": "/media/Screenshot_2025-09-21_at_7.33.13PM.png", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "laqueen-battle", "name": "LaQueen Battle", "blurb": "

", "img_url": "/media/Screenshot_2025-09-17_at_8.55.32PM.png", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "peter-hsu", "name": "Peter Hsu", "blurb": "

Dr. Peter Hsu is a practicing physician and second-time challenger for Cambridge City Council. He is on staff at Beth Israel and has lived in Cambridge for five years. Peter is running on a public health platform and wants to boost social services, including addiction and housing support.

As relative newcomer to politics, Hsu and his positions do not fit neatly into the main dichotomies of Cambridge politics. That said, Peter is running as part of the Repeal Slate to roll back the Multifamily Housing Ordinance.

Also with Zion Sherin, he has been endorsed by the Yankee National Party, a New England secessionist party that avows a \"enter-left, social democratic\" ideology and asks its endorsees to uphold its core values.

", "img_url": "/media/Peter-Hsu-20241108_16_1x1-v1.jpg", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "john-hanratty", "name": "John Hanratty", "blurb": "

John Hanratty has lived in Cambridge for over 25 years. He's had a long career as a tech executive and entrepreneur, retiring from full-time work in 2019.

John cites his opposition to the Cycling Safety Ordinance and his subsequent \"community crusade in Porter Square\" as the issue that drew him into city politics. He was heavily involved in suing the city of Cambridge over its protected bike lane network (all lawsuits failed or were rejected).

In the time since, he founded the Neighborhood 9 Coalition, which has, among other things, opposed affordable housing projects in the area--in particular highlighting potential developments on parking lots next to his home in Porter Square.

John is running as part of the Repeal Slate to roll back the Multifamily Housing Ordinance.

", "img_url": "/media/john-hanratty.7e91ae54623f-1911486057.png", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "zion-sherin", "name": "Zion Sherin", "blurb": "

Zion Sherin is new to Cambridge and its municipal politics, having registered here for the first time in April. A registered Independent, he has also been endorsed by the Yankee National Party, a New England secessionist party that avows a \"enter-left, social democratic\" ideology and asks its endorsees to uphold its core values.

Zion is a regular poster on Nextdoor and attendee at Neighborhood Conservation District meetings.

He is running as part of the Repeal Slate to roll back the Multifamily Housing Ordinance

", "img_url": "/media/Screenshot_2025-09-17_at_8.39.29PM.png", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "jane-hirschi", "name": "Jane Hirschi", "blurb": "

Jane Hirschi has lived in Cambridge since 1993 and raised two daughters who attended Cambridge Public Schools from pre-k through high school.

She founded CitySprouts in 2001 and served as its executive director for 23 years, building schoolyard gardens at every Cambridge elementary school and creating programs that integrate nature-based, hands-on learning into the classroom. Since stepping down from her role in 2023, she\u2019s continued to work with local nonprofits through an executive placement firm, currently serving as interim director at The Elliot School of Fine and Applied Arts in Boston and musiConnects in Roslandale.

She has won several awards for her work including the 2022 Cambridge Chamber of Commerce Inspire Award and Massachusetts Horticultural Society 2016 Silver Medal Award. Hirschi is the author of Ripe for Change (2015) and We Garden Together (2023).

", "img_url": "/media/Screenshot_2025-09-17_at_8.46.51PM.png", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "sumbul-siddiqui", "name": "Sumbul Siddiqui", "blurb": "

Sumbul Siddiqui's family immigrated to the United States from Pakistan when she was 2, and they moved to Cambridge when they got a lottery spot in Cambridge's affordable housing system. While attending CRLS, she co-founded the Cambridge Youth Council (then the Cambridge Youth Involvement Subcommittee) as a way for students to engage with city government and policy.

Prior to her election, she was on the board of the Cambridge School Volunteers and was a member of Cambridge's Human Services Commission. Until she became mayor, she was an Attorney at Northeast Legal Aid, a nonprofit that provides legal assistance. In 2025, she taught a course on Social Policy at Simmons College.

She and Alanna Mallon hosted a podcast together from January 2018 to 2022.

Sumbul has been elected from raw number one votes in the last four elections.

", "img_url": "/media/Screenshot_2025-09-17_at_8.34.48PM.png", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "lilly-havstad", "name": "Lilly Havstad", "blurb": "

Dr. Lilly Havstad, PhD is a longtime academic and former Fullbright scholar currently working as a Lecturer at Harvard. She is parent to a Grahams and Park School 3rd grader and serves on its School Council.

Lilly is an active member of the CEA-affiliated Solidarity Squad.

", "img_url": "/media/Screenshot2025-09-05at4.10.25PM.webp", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "robert-winters", "name": "Robert Winters", "blurb": "

Robert Winters is perhaps best known in Cambridge for maintaining a blog, titled Cambridge Civic Journal, about Cambridge politics; his notes about City Council meetings going back to 2006 are still available at his website. He started including videos, often with guests, in 2014. And he puts together a page with straightforward, non-editorialized candidate information for every election.

A mathematics PhD, Winters has taught at several area schools, including BU, MIT, and Harvard. Beginning in the 1980s, Winters served in several civic capacities, including in early initiatives with Cambridge's nascent recycling and composting programs, and on several boards and committees.

He has also been active on Twitter for many years. He has a long history of posting, engaging with, and liking content there that other people and organizations classify as transphobic, racist, sexist, Islamophobic, and pro-retaliatory-violence. For instance, he followed the well-known far-right, anti-LGBT+ LibsofTikTok account, and drew their attention to a local drag queen event at the Cambridge Public Library. Since that account is notorious for inciting violence, the Cambridge Police ended up deploying to protect residents in response.

When questioned about this history at a candidate forum in 2023, he said he didn't remember or liked something he found funny.

A perennial challenger candidate, Winters first sought election in the 1990s.

", "img_url": "/media/winters.jpg", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "e-denise-simmons", "name": "E. Denise Simmons", "blurb": "

Born and raised in Cambridge, Denise Simmons has been active in the Cambridge community for many years.

Denise served as Executive Director of the Cambridge Civic Unity Committee in the 1980s, a city established committee dedicated to ending racial discrimination against veterans. She was a member of the Cambridge School Committee in the 1990s.

A member of city council since 2002, Denise is currently serves as Mayor for the third time. She is the first Black, openly-lesbian mayor in the United States and the first Black woman to be mayor in Massachusetts.

Denise is a political institution who has succeeded in maintaining her position on city council through decades of a changing city.

", "img_url": "/media/simmons.jpg", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "richard-harding", "name": "Richard Harding", "blurb": "

Richard Harding is a lifelong resident of Cambridge and both a graduate and parent of a graduate of the Cambridge Public Schools. He is a public health employee, has worked in nonprofits, and is a small business owner -- of the Green Soul marijuana dispensary in Central Square.

Richard held a seat on the School Committee for seven terms ending in 2017, before an unsuccessful bid for City Council. He successfully ran for School Committee again in 2023, and is now seeking his ninth term.

", "img_url": "/media/Screenshot_2025-09-17_at_8.45.09PM.png", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "burhan-azeem", "name": "Burhan Azeem", "blurb": "

Burhan Azeem's family immigrated to the United States from Pakistan when he was young. They moved several times, and Burhan described how, as a brown Muslim immigrant living in the USA after 9-11, Cambridge was the first place he felt welcome.

He holds a Bachelor of Science from MIT and speaks three languages. He has studied sustainability and is passionate about mitigating climate change and its impacts. Burhan worked as a software engineer before his election to City Council in 2021, and worked two full-time jobs as as an engineer and city councillor until March of 2025.

Burhan previously served on the board of A Better Cambridge and founded the state-wide housing nonprofit Abundant Housing Massachusetts.

He is the only sitting Councillor who does not own a car.

", "img_url": "/media/Screenshot_2025-09-22_at_5.40.12PM.png", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "david-j-weinstein", "name": "David J. Weinstein", "blurb": "

David has lived in Cambridge for over 20 years.

In the '90s and early 2000s, David taught both Art and English, first in New York and later in or near Boston. He then became a communications specialist and consultant, largely working in higher education.

David's two children have both attended Cambridge Public Schools.

", "img_url": "/media/Screenshot_2025-09-18_at_8.37.34AM.png", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "tim-flaherty", "name": "Tim Flaherty", "blurb": "

As lifelong Cantabrigian, Tim Flaherty has a long history in the area. For instance, he previously ran for State Senate in 2007 and 2010, he coaches Little League in West Cambridge, and he has lectured at Carroll School of Management at Boston College.

He is a also prominent criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor and has represented a wide range of clients from the government, to politicians, and local influencers (Emmanuel Mervil of \u201cEverybody Gotta Eat\u201d).

Tim is currently representing Cambridge Council Paul Toner against the charges for frequenting a brothel ring, news of which broke earlier in 2025 and potentially influenced Paul Toner to not seek re-election. Toner endorsed and actively campaigns for Flaherty as his replacement.

He is on track to raise by far the most money in the 2025 election, passing $130,000, with a high average donation dollar amount.

Tim has his own legal controversy, covered at length in local publications. In brief, in 2016 he pleaded guilty to \"disrupting a state court proceeding\". His license to practice law was suspended, but reinstated in 2018 by the Supreme Judicial Court. It is worth noting that the witness tampering case was brought by US Attorney Carmen Ortiz (of Aaron Swartz infamy).

", "img_url": "/media/Screenshot_2025-09-17_at_8.58.27PM.png", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}, {"slug": "jess-goetz", "name": "Jess Goetz", "blurb": "

Jessica \"Jess\" Goetz has been a Cambridge resident for 14 years and CPS parent for nine years, with two students in Cambridge upper schools. She is an epidemiologist by training and holds an MPH from Michigan. She still consults on epidemiology part-time.

", "img_url": "/media/jess.jpg", "img_alt": "headshot of candidate", "comment": "", "order": null}]

Rachel B. Weinstein

More about Rachel B. Weinstein

Where rachel-weinstein Lives

rachel-weinstein on Education

rachel-weinstein on Other Issues

Endorsements for rachel-weinstein

Q&A

Interviews with rachel-weinstein

Forums

Panels rachel-weinstein participated in

Press

Articles about or by rachel-weinstein

Campaign finance