Cambridge Civic Journal Forum

December 6, 2015

Who Voted in the 2015 Cambridge Municipal Election?

Filed under: 2013 Election,2014 Election,2015 Election,Cambridge,elections — Tags: — Robert Winters @ 3:17 am

Who Voted in the 2015 Cambridge Municipal Election?

For the November 2015 Municipal Election, there were 63,338 registered voters with identified birthdates. Their median age was 38.7. Here’s how their ages as of Election Day (Nov 3, 2015) were distributed (in 3-year intervals):

Registered Voters - 2015
Registered Voters – 2015

Of these registered voters, 17,885 voted in the 2015 municipal election. Their median age was 56.0. Here’s how their ages as of Election Day (Nov 3, 2015) were distributed (in 3-year intervals):

Registered Voters 2015
Registered Voters Who Voted in the 2015 Municipal Election


For the November 2014 State Election, there were 66,315 registered voters with identified birthdates. Their median age was 37.9. Here’s how their ages as of Election Day (Nov 4, 2014) were distributed (in 3-year intervals):

Registered Voters 2015
Registered Voters – 2014

Of these registered voters, 32,569 voted in the 2014 State Election. Their median age was 49.3. Here’s how their ages as of Election Day (Nov 4, 2014) were distributed (in 3-year intervals):

Registered Voters 2015
Registered Voters Who Voted in the 2014 State Election


For the November 2013 Municipal Election, there were 70,601 registered voters with identified birthdates. Their median age was 37.0. Here’s how their ages as of Election Day (Nov 5, 2013) were distributed (in 3-year intervals):

Registered Voters - 2015
Registered Voters – 2013

Of these registered voters, 17,800 voted in the 2013 Municipal Election. Their median age was 56.4. Here’s how their ages as of Election Day (Nov 5, 2013) were distributed (in 3-year intervals):

Registered Voters 2015
Registered Voters Who Voted in the 2013 Municipal Election


Changes from 2013 to 2015:

The total number of voters in the 2013 and 2015 Cambridge Municipal Elections were comparable, but there were some noticeable differences by age. Here’s a table showing some of this information:

age voted
2015
2015 pct.
turnout
voted
2014
2014 pct.
turnout
voted
2013
2013 pct.
turnout
2013 to 2015
change
18-20 205 15.5 392 21.6 291 12.4 –86
21-23 303 8.2 884 25.1 361 10.1 –58
24-26 666 12.4 1956 32.6 620 9.7 +46
27-29 878 12.8 2423 33.5 763 9.5 +115
30-32 787 12.6 2329 34.8 791 10.5 –4
33-35 841 17.3 1974 37.1 742 12.5 +99
36-38 797 21.7 1680 43.3 632 14.6 +165
39-41 709 24.1 1406 46.8 677 21.2 +32
42-44 741 30.3 1355 50.8 763 27.0 –22
45-47 786 32.8 1331 56.7 733 29.5 +53
48-50 759 35.4 1297 57.7 788 33.5 –29
51-53 855 38.6 1485 64.6 915 38.7 –60
54-56 931 42.2 1571 68.4 1050 42.9 –119
57-59 1086 46.5 1692 70.0 1095 45.4 –9
60-62 1067 45.1 1824 74.4 1200 47.5 –133
63-65 1171 50.0 1797 75.6 1229 50.8 –58
66-68 1219 53.0 1775 78.3 1172 53.1 +47
69-71 1035 56.0 1428 77.8 1015 57.1 +20
72-74 880 57.3 1108 79.5 738 59.0 +142
75-77 608 57.4 797 76.6 596 58.4 +12
78-80 500 57.7 638 76.3 460 55.8 +40
81-83 351 52.2 483 70.0 382 53.9 –31
84-86 285 47.9 402 66.7 321 54.3 –36
87-89 202 47.6 263 58.8 224 48.0 –22
90-92 137 42.5 163 51.3 139 41.1 –2
93-95 59 33.0 71 38.0 64 37.6 –5
96-98 17 22.7 29 39.2 27 30.3 –10
99-101 10 35.7 14 36.8 11 27.5 –1
102-104 0 0.0 2 16.7 0 0.0 0
105-107 0 0.0 0 0.0 1 25.0 –1
Total 17885 28.2 32569 49.1 17800 25.2 +85

2013 to 2015

March 15, 2015

Cambridge School Committee 2013-2014 Campaign Finance Summaries

Cambridge School Committee 2013-2014 Campaign Finance Summaries (updated March 15, 2015)

CandidateStartReceiptsExpendituresBalanceIn-Kind#1 Votes$/voteNotes
Fran Cronin$0.00$17,004.00$15,443.97$1,560.03$1,000.001832$8.43$0 liabilities
Fred Fantini$4,501.93$5,788.00$6,503.66$3,786.27$0.002859$2.27$14,396 liab. to candidate
Joyce Gerber$105.20$6,669.94$6,775.14$0.00$450.001126$6.02Dissolution; $333.66 balance donated to RAUC
Richard Harding$8.06 $10,764.73$10,772.79$0.00$0.00 2359$4.57$6,595.54 liab. to candidate
John Holland$15.78$3,504.00$3,506.91$12.87$0.00589$5.95$0 liabilities
Elechi Kadete$0.00$870.00$870.00$0.00$0.00494$1.76$0 liabilities
Kathleen Kelly$0.00$16,830.00$15,075.15$1,754.85$100.002102$7.17$3,000 liab. to candidate
Patricia Nolan$48.44$9,370.00$8,337.04$1,081.40$0.003921$2.13$8,850 liab. to candidate
Mervan Osborne$1,025.58$18,039.34$18,529.20$535.72$325.001238$14.97$0 liabilities

School Committee Receipts 2013-2014

School Committee Expenditures 2013-2014

Number One Votes (2013 School Committee Election)

Cost per Number One Vote (2013 School Committee Election)

January 14, 2015

Campaign Finance – 2013 Cambridge City Council candidates

Filed under: 2013 Election,campaign finance,City Council — Tags: , , — Robert Winters @ 11:20 pm

The campaign finance reports are continuing to tell a story about which candidates made serious runs for a seat on the Cambridge City Council in 2013, how costly their campaigns were, and how effective their expenditures proved to be. Here are the figures from January 2013 through the latest (Dec 31, 2014) reports:

SummariesStartEndOpenReceiptsExpendBalance#1 Votes$/VoteNotes
Benzan, Dennis16-Jan-1331-Dec-14$0.00$66954.84$58747.39$8207.451302$45.12$2000 refunded donation subtracted
Carlone, Dennis1-Aug-1331-Dec-14$0.00$45999.96$41727.29$4272.671151$36.25includes late $10,000 candidate loan (Dec 2013)
Cheung, Leland1-Jan-1315-Jan-14$7016.78$50586.80$37041.34$20562.242392$15.49$800 overpayment deducted;
figures do not include Lt. Gov. campaign;
actual balance at end of 2014 is $6002.06.
House, Janneke1-Jun-1331-Jan-14$0.00$13518.97$13538.95-$19.98411$32.94$1132.76 reimbursed candidate loan subtracted
Kelley, Craig1-Jan-1331-Dec-14$5262.08$11461.80$5122.30$2601.581093$4.69$9,000 candidate loan reimbursement subtracted
Lee, James1-Aug-1315-Nov-13$0.00$1207.42$1207.42$0.0092$13.12$1,149.64 loan reimbursed subtracted
Leslie, Logan16-Jan-1331-Dec-14$0.00$26371.40$26371.40$0.00505$52.22
Maher, David1-Jan-1331-Dec-14$19131.76$85943.30$76333.85$28741.211460$52.28
Mazen, Nadeem1-May-1331-Dec-14$0.00$60532.70$48259.16$12273.54984$49.04$100 refunded donation subtracted;
cost of school bus and parking costs not in any reports;
account overdrawn; horrible accounting
McGovern, Marc16-Feb-1331-Dec-14$0.00$64325.86$58227.41$6098.451189$48.97$1,903.58 School Committee balance included in receipts
Mello, Gary1-Aug-1315-Dec-13$0.00$549.99$549.99$0.00107$5.14
Mirza, Mushtaque16-Aug-1331-Jan-14$0.00$20083.00$20083.00$0.00284$70.71
Moree, Gregg J. 1-Feb-1315-Jan-14$0.00$3850.00$3896.46-$46.4638$102.54account overdrawn
Peden, Ron2-Aug-1329-Aug-13$0.00$500.00$500.00$0.0050no depository reports
Phillips, Lesley16-Aug-1315-May-14$0.00$3994.50$3994.50$0.0083$48.13$1267.31 from previous campaign account not recorded,
$500 loan subtracted
Reeves, Ken1-Jan-1331-Dec-14$16034.27$56540.07$70489.88$2084.46932$75.63Only $1,000 campaign hdqtrs. rent
to 3MJ Realty recorded
Seidel, Sam1-Jan-1331-Dec-14$253.96$22247.60$22360.30$141.26700$31.94
Simmons, Denise1-Jan-1331-Dec-14
$7625.65$52052.95$52231.31$7447.291183$44.15
Smith, Jefferson1-May-1331-Dec-14$0.00$45669.46$45665.90$3.56579$78.87credit card debt apparently being paid down
Toomey, Tim1-Jan-1317-Oct-14$6035.62$65152.14$56676.91$13010.851459$38.85$1500 loan reimbursement subtracted from expenses,
includes partial State Rep. campaign finance
vanBeuzekom, Minka 1-Jan-1331-Dec-14$5201.71$36085.19$33906.50$7380.40874$38.79$8,007.68 bank transfer included in expenditures
Vasquez, Luis16-May-1315-Jun-14$0.00$2387.33$2387.33$0.00264$9.04
von Hoffmann, Kristen16-Feb-1331-Dec-13$0.00$16919.17$16919.17$0.00421$40.19$109.67 reimbursed loan subtracted
Williamson, James1-Jan-1331-Dec-13$0.00$0.00$0.00$0.0074no reports on record
Yarden, Elie2-Aug-1331-Dec-13$0.00$0.00$0.00$0.00102no reports on record

The table can be sorted by category in ascending or descending order by clicking on the category name in the top row.

The Dollars Per Vote information continued to rise as outstanding bills were paid. In addition, some reimbursed candidate loans have been subtracted in order to give a more accurate picture of actual expenses.

Two candidates in particular, Nadeem Mazen and Jefferson Smith, have financial reports that are especially difficult to decipher due to their liberal use of credit cards which resulted in some expenses being counted twice. I corrected the data as much as I could, but both campaigns could have used a competent treasurer.

All 2013-2014 Campaign Finance Report Summaries (PDF) – last updated January 14, 2015
.

You can also look up these periodic reports yourself at the OCPF website.

This post and the table may still be updated, but the focus will soon shift to the 2015 election.

Cambridge Candidate Pages – 2013

January 3, 2015

Cambridge City Council Campaign Receipts: 2013 – 2014

Cambridge City Council Campaign Receipts: 2013 – 2014
(candidates exceeding 500 #1 votes in Nov 2013 election)

Ranked by Percent Receipts from Cambridge

Candidate Receipts Cambridge Percent
Kelley, Craig $11,441.00 $10,591.00 92.6%
Leslie, Logan $26,232.53 $22,745.00 86.7%
Carlone, Dennis $45,410.00 $37,506.00 82.6%
vanBeuzekom, Minka $31,757.70 $22,762.00 71.7%
Seidel, Sam $22,245.82 $15,362.00 69.1%
Cheung, Leland $344,288.91 $189,654.92 55.1%
Smith, Jefferson $39,940.00 $20,140.00 50.4%
McGovern, Marc $60,438.13 $29,294.00 48.5%
Simmons, Denise $41,809.92 $19,763.28 47.3%
Maher, David $85,918.30 $40,454.00 47.1%
Benzan, Dennis $67,096.00 $31,471.00 46.9%
Toomey, Tim $65,152.14 $25,507.80 39.2%
Mazen, Nadeem $61,962.14 $18,157.96 29.3%
Reeves, Ken $54,464.03 $15,493.88 28.4%

Ranked by Percent Receipts from Real Estate Interests

Candidate Receipts Real Estate Percent
Maher, David $85,918.30 $27,300.00 31.8%
Reeves, Ken $54,464.03 $16,875.00 31.0%
McGovern, Marc $60,438.13 $16,942.61 28.0%
Simmons, Denise $41,809.92 $9,650.00 23.1%
Toomey, Tim $65,152.14 $11,350.00 17.4%
Cheung, Leland $344,288.91 $30,350.00 8.8%
Kelley, Craig $11,441.00 $400.00 3.5%
vanBeuzekom, Minka $31,757.70 $850.00 2.7%
Seidel, Sam $22,245.82 $200.00 0.9%
Benzan, Dennis $67,096.00 $500.00 0.7%
Carlone, Dennis $45,410.00 $200.00 0.4%
Mazen, Nadeem $61,962.14 $0.00 0.0%
Smith, Jefferson $39,940.00 $0.00 0.0%
Leslie, Logan $26,232.53 $0.00 0.0%

Note 1: The totals for Leland Cheung include all money raised for his campaign for Lt. Governor, including $118,981.92 from the candidate.

Note 2: The reports for Nadeem Mazen contain many errors – wrong dates, many missing addresses, etc. The data has been corrected to the best of this writer’s ability and patience.

Note 3: The totals above include money loaned or given by the candidates. Since they are all Cambridge residents this greatly affects the totals and the percentages coming from Cambridge addresses.

Note 4: In some cases, candidate loans have since been repaid. The data shown has not been adjusted for this.

Note 5: Some additional receipts for 2014 may still be recorded. The tables may be updated to reflect this.

Note 6: The individual campaign contribution limit of $500 per year has been raised to $1000 per year starting in 2015.

Candidates listed alphabetically including total receipts, receipts from Cambridge addresses,
receipts from political action committees (PAC), receipts from identifiable real estate interests (RE),
percent from candidate (loan or donated), percent receipts from Cambridge,
percent receipts from PACs, percent receipts from identifiable real estate interests

Candidate Total Receipts Cambridge PAC RE Loan % Cambridge % PAC % RE
Benzan, Dennis $67,096.00 $31,471.00 $2,450.00 $500.00 $4,100.00 46.9% 3.7% 0.7%
Carlone, Dennis $45,410.00 $37,506.00 $480.00 $200.00 $16,000.00 82.6% 1.1% 0.4%
Cheung, Leland $344,288.91 $189,654.92 $7,850.00 $30,350.00 $118,981.92 55.1% 2.3% 8.8%
Kelley, Craig $11,441.00 $10,591.00 $0.00 $400.00 $25.00 92.6% 0.0% 3.5%
Leslie, Logan $26,232.53 $22,745.00 $1,000.00 $0.00 $15,325.00 86.7% 3.8% 0.0%
Maher, David $85,918.30 $40,454.00 $6,100.00 $27,300.00 $0.00 47.1% 7.1% 31.8%
Mazen, Nadeem $61,962.14 $18,157.96 $1,100.00 $0.00 $7,750.00 29.3% 1.8% 0.0%
McGovern, Marc $60,438.13 $29,294.00 $6,100.00 $16,942.61 $2,949.80 48.5% 10.1% 28.0%
Reeves, Ken $54,464.03 $15,493.88 $6,950.00 $16,875.00 $0.00 28.4% 12.8% 31.0%
Seidel, Sam $22,245.82 $15,362.00 $250.00 $200.00 $2,001.00 69.1% 1.1% 0.9%
Simmons, Denise $41,809.92 $19,763.28 $5,550.00 $9,650.00 $0.00 47.3% 13.3% 23.1%
Smith, Jefferson $39,940.00 $20,140.00 $3,475.00 $0.00 $17,220.00 50.4% 8.7% 0.0%
Toomey, Tim $65,152.14 $25,507.80 $9,225.00 $11,350.00 $0.00 39.2% 14.2% 17.4%
vanBeuzekom, Minka $31,757.70 $22,762.00 $500.00 $850.00 $7,500.00 71.7% 1.6% 2.7%

August 16, 2014

2013 Cambridge City Council Campaign Finance Receipts (Jan 1, 2013 through July 31, 2014)

2013 Cambridge City Council Campaign Finance Receipts (Jan 1, 2013 through July 31, 2014)

CandidatesCambridgeTotalCambridge %union/PAC %Real Estate %Notes
Benzan, Dennis$25,891.00$55,161.0046.9%3.3%0.5%$2,000 overpayment subtracted
Carlone, Dennis$34,796.00$41,650.0083.5%0.6%0.5%$16,000 from candidate
Cheung, Leland$21,366.00$51,385.3741.6%6.4%20.2%$2 from candidate
House, Janneke$12,177.24$14,811.7382.2%0.2%5.1%$6867.24 from candidate; $1132.76 reimbursed
Kelley, Craig$10,591.00$11,441.0092.6%0%3.5%$25 from candidate
Lee, James$1,800.00$1,975.0091.1%0%0%$1,800 from candidate
Leslie, Logan$20,520.00$24,007.5385.5%4.2%0%$13,100 from candidate
Maher, David$28,260.00$50,653.6855.8%6.6%22.4%-
Mazen, Nadeem$10,706.96$41,058.4326.1%2.7%0%includes $1750 in-kind, $3000 loan from candidate
McGovern, Marc$28764.80$58,228.1349.4%9.3%29.5%$1903.58 from previous campaign
Mello, Gary$500.00$500.00100.0%0%0%$500 from candidate
Mirza, Mushtaque$17,786.00$19,983.0089.0%0%0%$17,000 loan; $16793.84 apparently forgiven
Moree, Gregg J. $2,400.00$2,400.00100.0%0%0%$2,400 from candidate not itemized
Peden, Ron$500.00$500.00100.0%0%0%$500 from candidate not itemized
Phillips, Lesley$500.00$500.00100.0%0%0%-
Reeves, Ken$14,343.88$67,362.9321.3%9.3%25.0%Campaign headquarters greatly underreported; accounting unclear
Seidel, Sam$15,362.00$22,245.8269.1%1.1%0.9%$4,001 from candidate
Simmons, Denise$16,125.00$35,222.0245.8%14.1%20.3%-
Smith, Jefferson$20,040.00$39,440.0050.8%6.0%0%$17,220 from candidate; confused accounting
Toomey, Tim$15,969.43$41,083.7738.9%13.6%22.1%-
vanBeuzekom, Minka $22,512.00$31,757.7070.9%1.3%3.0%$7,500 from candidate
Vasquez, Luis$1,375.00$2,410.9657.0%0%0%-
von Hoffmann, Kristen$6,351.33$17,166.4537.0%0%1.7%$1,750 loan; $1640.33 in-kind forgiven
Williamson, James-----no reported receipts
Yarden, Elie-----no reported receipts

Note: Receipts include candidate loans which can greatly increase the percentage from Cambridge. Fees are included and reduce total receipts. Percentages for unions/PACS and identifiable real estate interests (RE) are shown. The total receipts in the first graph below includes all receipts reported by the bank. Bank receipts in some cases do not match the reported itemized receipts. All figures taken from Mass. Office of Campaign & Political Finance (OCPF) reports.

Two candidates in particular, Nadeem Mazen and Jefferson Smith, have financial reports that are especially difficult to decipher due to their liberal use of credit cards which resulted in some expenses being counted twice. I corrected the data as much as I could, but both campaigns could have used a competent treasurer.

Additional information, including expenditures, may be found at http://cambridgecivic.com/?p=2660.

These figures will be updated as additional information becomes available.

Receipts
Total Itemized Receipts – 2013 (through Dec 14)


Cambridge Percentage
Percentage of Itemized Receipts from Cambridge – 2013 (through Dec 14, minimum $2000)

Cambridge Receipts from Others
Percentage of Itemized Receipts from Cambridge w/o Candidate Loans


Percent Real Estage
Percentage of Itemized Receipts from Real Estate/Developers – 2013 (through Dec 14, minimum $5000)

January 6, 2014

Jan 6, 2014 – Inauguration Day

Filed under: 2013 Election,Cambridge,Cambridge government,City Council — Tags: , , — Robert Winters @ 12:40 am

Jan 6, 2014 – Inauguration Day

The Inauguration of the 2014-2015 Cambridge City Council will take place today at City Hall beginning at 10:00am. After the ceremonial activities and the oaths of office, there will be just two items of business – the adoption of the Rules for the 2014-2015 City Council (usually just the formal adoption of the rules in effect for the previous Council) and the Election of a Mayor. The meeting will be conducted by City Clerk Donna Lopez until a Mayor is elected. If a Mayor is not elected at the Inaugural Meeting, the most senior member of the City Council, Tim Toomey, will serve as Acting Mayor until such time as a Mayor is elected.

There is a relatively good chance that a Mayor will be elected at the Inaugural Meeting this year. The major contenders are rumored to be Leland Cheung, David Maher, and Denise Simmons. If a Mayor is elected, the City Council will then proceed to the election of its Vice Chair (customarily referred to as the Vice Mayor).

Later in the day (6:00pm), the 2014-2015 Cambridge School Committee will be inaugurated with the Mayor presiding.

Dennis Benzan
Benzan
Dennis Carlone
Carlone
Leland Cheung
Cheung
Craig Kelley
Kelley
David Maher
Maher
Nadeem Mazen
Mazen
Marc McGovern
McGovern
Denise Simmons
Simmons
Tim Toomey
Toomey

It’s Mayor Maher

It was a rollercoaster of a mayoral vote this morning, but the new City Council finally did get the job done. Here’s a rundown (using the initials of councillors and mayoral candidates in the tally):

EVENT DB DC LC CK DM NM MM DS TT RESULT
Ballot #1 DM LC LC DS DM DS DM DS DM Maher 4, Simmons 3, Cheung 2
Ballot #2 DM LC LC LC DM LC DM DS DM Maher 4, Cheung 4, Simmons 1
Simmons switch to Maher DM LC LC LC DM LC DM DM DM Maher 5, Cheung 4
Cheung switch to Simmons DM LC DS LC DM LC DM DM DM Maher 5, Cheung 3, Simmons 1
Kelley switch to Simmons DM LC DS DS DM LC DM DM DM Maher 5, Cheung 2, Simmons 2
Carlone switch to Simmons DM DS DS DS DM LC DM DM DM Maher 5, Simmons 3, Cheung 1
Mazen switch to Simmons DM DS DS DS DM DS DM DM DM Maher 5, Simmons 4
Simmons switch to Simmons DM DS DS DS DM DS DM DS DM Simmons 5, Maher 4
Benzan switch to Simmons DS DS DS DS DM DS DM DS DM Simmons 6, Maher 3
Mazen switch to Kelley DS DS DS DS DM CK DM DS DM Simmons 5, Maher 3, Kelley 1
Carlone switch to Kelley DS CK DS DS DM CK DM DS DM Simmons 4, Maher 3, Kelley 2
Ballot #3 DM LC LC DS DM DS DM DM DM Maher 5, Cheung 2, Simmons 2
Cheung switch to Simmons DM LC DS DS DM DS DM DM DM Maher 5, Simmons 3, Cheung 1
Carlone switch to Simmons DM DS DS DS DM DS DM DM DM Maher 5, Simmons 4

It is worth noting that at the end of Ballot #3, Denise Simmons could have once again changed her vote to herself (giving her a majority) but chose not to do so – perhaps due to the belief that this would lead to just another cycle of vote changes.

After Mayor Maher took the oath of office, the City Council then proceeded to the vote for Vice Chair. Though not initially unanimous for Dennis Benzan, Denise Simmons moved that the vote be made unanimous and there was no objection.

Congratulations to Mayor David Maher and to Vice Mayor Dennis Benzan! – RW

December 18, 2013

Cambridge InsideOut: Episodes 27 and 28

Cambridge InsideOut Episode 27. Updates and last details of the 2012-2013 Cambridge City Council. Broadcast Dec 17, 2013, 5:30pm.

Cambridge InsideOut Episode 28: Reflections on the political careers of Ken Reeves, Henrietta Davis, Marjorie Decker, and Minka vanBeuzekom. Broadcast Dec 17, 2013, 6:00pm.

December 12, 2013

2013 City Council Recount Completed – Same Winners, Similar Margins

Filed under: 2013 Election,Cambridge,City Council,elections — Tags: , , , — Robert Winters @ 11:56 pm

Recount Completed – Same Winners, Similar Margins

Dec 12, 2013 – The 2013 City Council Election Recount is now complete: Recount Results (PDF, 2 pages)

FinalRecount

Note: This chart was modified from an earlier version to reflect a correction in Count 15.

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