Thanks to you, we won!

In case we haven’t connected amid the post-election hoopla, I want to pass along some thrilling City Council results and say thank you! to everyone who supported the Kelley campaign with time, money, signs, kind words and votes. 

When Tuesday’s ballots were initially counted, we landed in ninth place with 1,042 vital No. 1 votes — far short of the threshold of 1,608 votes needed to capture one of the nine spots on the council, but a very promising start. By the end of the night, after a series of ballot transfers that gradually eliminated candidates with the lowest number of accumulated votes, we had surprised the pundits by finishing in eighth place overall — ahead of two longtime officeholders and all the other challengers. 

The total number of valid ballots cast was 16,070, roughly 4,000 less than two years ago, and while the vast majority of the incumbents saw their vote counts drop, ours actually increased by more than 5 percent. Our largest number of votes came from North Cambridge/Porter Square, where I live and where our campaign headquarters was located, but victory was only possible because we had solid numbers from all over the city.

None of this would have happened without your help. I am humbled and honored to learn that so many people in Cambridge share my vision of a city government that listens to its citizens and offers every child a top-notch education, in public schools that draw families to our community instead of driving them away.

Of course, talking with you about these issues during the campaign was the easy part. Turning those words into action during the new City Council term will be more challenging, and I will once again be asking for your help in moving Cambridge forward with initiatives aimed at shifting educational resources toward our classrooms, protecting our neighborhoods and natural resources from poor city planning and overdevelopment, encouraging civic involvement and valuing the input of our citizens, and making our streets safer for everyone.

Once again — thank you, and please stay in touch personally and politically by continuing to contact me with your concerns and ideas.

Craig Kelley

Saint Gerard Terrace