Republicans in the 'People's Republic of Cambridge'

When Cambridge residents complain about the past eight years of George W. Bush in Peter M. Wilson’s presence—and they often do—he simply smiles and nods his head.

“Everyone assumes that you are a Democrat [and that you] hate President Bush,” said Wilson, who was a registered Democrat until the events of September 11, 2001 made him reevaluate his political affiliation.

Cambridge is more than just a left-leaning city. It’s a multiple-college town, home to a city council known for its commitment to eco-friendly policies. It is the home of America’s first openly gay mayor, Kenneth E. Reeves ’72, who held office from 1992-1995 and 2006-2007. Reeves’ second term was followed by a second openly-gay mayor, E. Denise Simmons.

But even in a city affectionately called “Berkeley on the Charles,” conservative voters say their presence—albeit small—is essential to maintaining a true democracy.

“The state of the [Republican] Party in Cambridge and throughout Massachusetts is catastrophic,” said David Slavitt, a poet, novelist, and translator who ran for state representative in 2004 on the GOP ticket. “It’s a shame because a two-party system requires two parties.”

A NEW SET OF BUMS

The Cambridge Election Commission reports that roughly 63,000 of the city’s 100,000 residents are currently registered to vote. The Republican City Committee reports that about 3,500 of the city’s voters, or less than 6 percent, are registered as Republicans.

Predictably, the small proportion of Republican voters translates into races dominated by Democrats.

This year, the incumbent state representatives for Cambridge’s two districts—Alice K. Wolf and Timothy J. Toomey, both Democrats—are running unopposed.

Two years ago, Henry R. Irving, the current chair of the Republican City Committee, ran against Wolf, who has been in office since 1997. He carried only 10 percent of the vote.

“Both I and my opponent knew I didn’t have a chance,” Irving said.

Representative Michael E. Capuano, a Democrat, is running unopposed for the district that includes Cambridge and Somerville. He has run unopposed since 2000.

According to Cambridge Republicans, the problem is not necessarily that their opponents are in power; it’s that no one is challenging them or holding them accountable.

Slavitt, who is also an associate of the Leverett House Senior Common Room, explains it this way: “You’ve got to have new bums to throw the old bums out.”

Though Cambridge city councillors are not elected by political party, the current councillors either openly identify with the Democratic Party—like Toomey, who serves both at City Hall and in the State House—or champion left-leaning clauses, like Henrietta J. Davis, who frequently proposes wind and solar energy alternatives. Indeed, the only elected official in Cambridge who is not a member of the Democratic Party is Luc D. Schuster, the one School Committee member who belongs to the Green Party.

While Wolf said she agreed that Cambridge Democrats’ lack of opposition is “bad for democracy,” she said that she does frequently receive e-mails from local Republicans stating their views, and that she works to keep herself accountable to voters by publishing a detailed newsletter and continuing to campaign.

Irving said that the shortage of candidates stems not from a lack of numbers, but from the difficulty of creating a consensus among local Republicans.

“It’s like herding cats,” he said. “No Republicans I know in Cambridge marches to anybody’s drummer other than their own.”

‘IF I LIVED IN NEW MEXICO...’

Although Cambridge Republicans are surrounded by liberals, their political philosophies have further diverged from those of the local majority.

“I suffered through rent control,” said Irving, who has lived in Cambridge since 1982. Irving describes his experience going before the city to raise rent on property that he owned as an encounter with a “mini-dictatorship in action.”

The city utilized rent control from 1970 to 1994, when it was banned statewide.

Other local Republicans also cited classic G.O.P. principles, such as small government, free trade, and private property rights as reasons they vote for the party.

Despite these differences, some say that Cambridge does have some Republican-friendly policies.

Wilson noted that the city’s residential tax rate of $7.56 per $1,000 of value is the lowest in the Boston area.

But Slavitt and others maintain that they choose to be Republicans because they believe it is wrong for a single party to dominate government, as they say it does in Cambridge.

“If I lived in New Mexico, I might well be a Democrat,” Slavitt said.

Unable to win office, and in a very small minority, the Cantabrigian branch of the Grand Old Party mostly expresses itself via a twice-monthly column, “The Right View,” published in the Cambridge Chronicle. Members and friends of the Republican City Committee take turns writing the articles, which focus on issues like taxes, school curricula, and the performance of the current city government.

But despite being a minority in the city and the state, Cambridge Republicans say they experience little open hostility.

During his 2006 campaign, Irving said he tried to knock on every door in Cambridge. Though he fell short of that mark, he called his quest “the most fascinating experience.”

Though he only recalls two rude encounters, Irving said that he did not consider running again this year as a Republican.

“It just seemed sort of futile,” he said.
—Staff writer Sarah J. Howland can be reached at showland@fas.harvard.edu.