Recount Confirms Original Election Results for Cambridge City Council

After nine days of recount, the Cambridge City Council elections officially came to a close on Thursday, as candidate Dennis Carlone’s victory over incumbent Minka Y. vanBeuzekom was confirmed. VanBeuzekom requested the recount after she lost her seat on the Council by a small margin in the November election.

“The results themselves changed, but the winners did not,” Election Commissioner Ethridge King told The Crimson as the recount neared its end. The margin between Carlone and vanBeuzekom actually narrowed during the recount, but Carlone still managed to secure his seat.

After King declared that “the candidate Carlone is now officially elected,” the room full of exhausted observers and ballot counters quickly emptied. Carlone’s attorney and campaign manager were present to receive the good news, although vanBeuzekom’s campaign did not send a representative.

“Every recount is stressful; that’s just the nature of it. With things being so close, Minka had every right to ask for one,” said Carlone, whose campaign platform included promises to amend the existing Code of Conduct for City Officials and Employees, create a Cambridge-wide “master plan” for development, and draft a “Neighborhood Bill of Rights” to improve the quality of life enjoyed by Cambridge residents.

The election itself was one of the most intense in recent memory, with 25 candidates competing for nine seats on the council. The recount confirmed the nine top candidates, in alphabetical order by last name, as Dennis Benzan, Carlone, Leland Cheung, Craig A. Kelley, David P. Maher, Nadeem Mazen, Marc McGovern, E. Denise Simmons, and Timothy J. Toomey Jr.

VanBeuzekom, whose 10th place in the general election was confirmed by the recount, was first elected to the Council in 2011. The recent loss marks an end to her first and only term. She could not be reached for comment Thursday night.

Among the defeated included Harvard’s own Logan Leslie ’16, who led a controversial campaign to become the first Harvard student in history to be elected to the council. Logan secured enough votes to finish 14th.

—Staff writer Conor J. Reilley can be reached at creilley@college.harvard.edu.