2025 Cambridge City Council Election

In Spring 2024, a slim majority of the Cambridge City Council voted to delay installing critical safety infrastructure by 18 months. Just a few months later, three people were killed biking on Cambridge streets. The Council then reversed the delay, but the vote had already set safety projects back by more than a year. It’s critical that in 2025 we elect a City Council that supports life-saving safe infrastructure.

CBS endorsed candidates: champions and supporters

CBS has endorsed a slate of candidates who have committed to completing Cambridge’s network of separated bike lanes on schedule by November 2026. Make sure to rank multiple endorsed candidates so your vote doesn’t get wasted.

Bike Safety Champions

Champions gave the strongest responses on transportation policy in the candidate questionnaire, and, if incumbents, had a perfect voting record on bike safety.

Bike Safety Supporters

Additional endorsed candidates pledged to complete the bike network on time. See below for a table comparing the two categories.

How to vote (election day is Tuesday November 4th)

Cambridge uses ranked choice voting. That means:

  • You can rank multiple candidates, in order from your favorite (ranked #1) to least favorite; you are not required to rank everyone, though.
  • While you could rank just one candidate, to ensure your ballot doesn’t get wasted make sure to rank multiple candidates on your ballot. That way if your top pick either loses, or wins and get too many votes, your vote will go to the next candidate in your ranking order. Make sure you rank only candidates who support bike safety!
  • If you have multiple favorites and can’t decide, ranking them in random order is fine.

Here’s how to vote:

  • In person, Tuesday November 4th: Polls are open 7AM-8PM. Find your voting location here. Make sure to add it to your calendar!
  • Mail-in ballots: To ensure your ballot arrives on time, at this point you should make sure to use official election drop boxes, not regular mail. A list of locations and map are available here. Most drop boxes will close November 3rd (Monday) at 8PM. After that and on election day, only the one at 689 Mass Ave will be open, until 8PM.

Sign up for a reminder to vote here, and we’ll keep you in the loop about when and how to vote.

Here’s a comparison between the different categories of candidates:

How we reached our endorsement decisions

Cambridge Bicycle Safety considered three pillars when making candidate endorsements: 

  1. A commitment to completing the Cycling Safety Ordinance (CSO) on schedule by 2026, 
  2. Each candidate’s vision for the future drawn from our candidate questionnaire, 
  3. The voting record of the incumbents.

Learn more about how we made our endorsements, and read a complete set of responses to our candidate questionnaire here.

What you can do to help us win the 2025 election

Make a plan to vote

Voting is the most important action you can take to elect a bike-friendly council. Be sure that you are registered before October 25, know where to vote, and choose whether to vote early, apply to vote by mail, or vote on election day. Add the deadlines and election dates to your personal calendar. The Cambridge Election Commission can help with any questions. It can be helpful to mark a sample ballot to bring with you. Sign up for a reminder to vote here. View the Cambridge Election Commission’s (recently posted) guide with a practice ballot and samples of the 2025 ballots for school committee and city council.

Make sure to vote for our slate 

Slates are often used by voters in Cambridge’s ranked-choice system to advance a shared goal, such as completing a safe bike network. Our slate also includes candidates from every other major slate in the city, so you can find people who match your values on other issues too. That way your ballot can stay true to your broader priorities while making sure bike safety has strong support on the Council. Importantly, you should avoid voting off slate, as candidates who are not on it are not committed to this core priority. 

Volunteer with the Cambridge Bicycle Safety IEPAC

Cambridge Bicycle Safety Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee (CBS IEPAC) is the election organization allied with Cambridge Bicycle Safety. They work to elect City Councillors who support safer streets and hold them accountable. CBS IEPAC is looking for volunteers to help with voter outreach. Sign up to volunteer at https://www.mobilize.us/cbsiepac/?show_all_events=true

Donate to Cambridge Bicycle Safety IEPAC

Please consider contributing to the CBS IEPAC. Your contribution will help support critical election work, including voter outreach, volunteer coordination, and printing the election materials we need to win this fall, so that Cambridge can keep moving toward safer, healthier streets for all. 

Request a free yard sign from Cambridge Bicycle Safety IEPACC

You can request a free yard sign from the CBS IEPAC. Show your support for safer streets by hosting a Cambridge Bicycle Safety sign at your home or on your bike!

Any questions? Email us at info@cambridgebikesafety.org

Learn More
Volunteer with CBS IEPAC
Donate to CBS IEPAC