James Condit Fighting the Odds

Hoping to ride a tide of political conservatism washing over Cambridge, James E. Condit III has embarked on an unlikely struggle.

The man with the last name of the summer’s most hated politician has never held local office, is relatively new to the area, and has yet to rack up any endorsements.

Still, Condit aims to nab a seat for the Libertarians—on a City Council whose two main political slates this fall are run by the traditionally liberal activists of the Cambridge Civic Association and the gay rights group The Lavender Alliance.

But Condit, a computer programmer who is currently “between jobs,” is unapologetic about his unorthodox views.

“I just recently got married and I’m concerned about the education system,” Condit says earnestly. “I basically want to eliminate the public school system altogether—first move to charter schools and then move to entirely private schools.”

This is where Condit’s rhetoric begins getting radical.

“The public education is a system from the 1800s, created to discipline children so they could work in factories,” Condit said. “The Industrial Revolution is over—we don’t need this system anymore.”

Although traditional Cambridge would abhor the notion of abolishing public schools, Condit says that the dire state of Cambridge’s schools—among the state’s best-funded and lowest-scoring—will turn Cambridge towards libertarianism.

“I think the character of Cambridge is changing as more and more people become property owners,” Condit said.

Condit, who is “firmly opposed to rent control,” says he will be seeking the endorsement of the Small Property Owners Association (SPOA), an organization famed for working to pass the statewide ban that ended rent control.

But unfortunately for Condit, SPOA doesn’t make endorsements, according to its president, Lenore M. Schloming, who hadn’t even heard of the upstart candidate.

“What’s his name?” Schloming asked. “Like Gary Condit?”

(Gary and James Condit have no relation, according to the Cambridge Condit, who says he has “no relatives in California at all.”)

“We cannot endorse candidates, we’re a nonprofit and lobbying group,” Schloming says.

Still, Schloming does have some good news for Condit’s campaign: she says that Cambridge is undergoing a “shift away from the radical left.”

Condit takes a hands-off position on Cambridge’s other hot-button issues: zoning, affordable housing and its relations with its universities.

Citing the fact that most of Cambridge’s housing is rented, unlike local housing activists who use the statistic to call for more affordable housing to keep Cambridge diverse, Condit thinks that no change is needed.

“It’s not affordable housing they want—what they want is subsidized housing,” Condit said. “If people couldn’t afford apartments, why would they be rented?”

Condit holds that Harvard—and all property owners—should pay a low tax rate, and that property use should not be up to often-restrictive citywide zoning but private property owners.

His party thinks Condit has a niche in Cambridge—and emphasizes that with the city’s proportional representation voting system, all he needs is 10 percent of the votes to claim a spot on the council.

“I think our attractiveness is geared towards the new population of Cambridge, the people who have moved in after rent control, the younger, more affluent, maybe first-time condo owners,” said Jeff J. Chase, the chair of the Cambridge Libertarian City Committee.

And across the famously Democratic state of Massachusetts, the Libertarian Party has been making gains: enrollment has increased more than fivefold in the last four years—from around 3,000 to about 16,500—according to Elias Israel, the party’s state chair.

“We are not only the fastest-growing party in the state, we are the only growing party in the state,” Israel says.

Israel says Libertarians have lately been winning office in liberal bastions.

“We have about 40 offices held by about 30 Libertarians across the state— including a selectman in Provincetown,” Israel says.

Cambridge political pundit Glenn S. Koocher ‘71—citing the last city election’s meager Libertarian turnout of 107 votes—doesn’t think that Condit’s candidacy stands much chance.

“I think what you’ll see is the handful of hard-core Libertarians—between 150 and 170 people—will vote for him maybe,” Koocher says.

And Koocher questions Condit’s assertion that the political tide is changing in Cambridge.

“It’s a different demographic in that there are a number of people who weren’t here before—but honestly the perspective isn’t hard-core Libertarian,” he says.

—Staff writer Lauren R. Dorgan can be reached at dorgan@fas.harvard.edu.