City Councillor Marjorie C. Decker To Run for State Representative

After State Representative Alice K. Wolf’s formally declared on Thursday that she does not plan to run for reelection this fall, Cambridge City Councillor Marjorie C. Decker announced her own intentions to run for the seat.

Prior to publicly announcing that she will not seek reelection after her term expires this fall, Wolf informed her supporters of her intentions in an email sent on Wednesday.

“Thank you for your part in enabling me to serve,” she wrote. “I look forward to continuing our work together to strive to make Cambridge and all of Massachusetts a fair, humane, sustainable place to live.”

Wolf, who holds a master’s degree in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, was first elected Mass. state representative for the 25th Middlesex District in 1996.

Wolf got her start in politics in 1973 sitting on the Cambridge School Committee. She later served as a Cambridge city councillor for ten years, which included a two-year term as mayor.

In an emailed statement, Decker discussed her interest in running for Wolf’s seat, her desire to solve the issues that Cambridge citizens face, and her relationship with Wolf.

“It has been an honor to know and work with Alice since her days as the Mayor of Cambridge, when I was a student at CRLS, and later as her campaign manager and Legislative aide,” Decker wrote in the statement. “If elected, I will continue to work hard every day to live up to the standard of excellence in public service that [Wolf] has set.”

Decker, a longtime Cambridge resident, managed two of Wolf’s campaigns for state representative.

Wolf praised Decker in an interview with The Crimson.

“I’m not surprised that she’s decided to run,” Wolf said. “She’ll be a great candidate. She’s been a very good city councillor.”

Mayor Henrietta J. Davis also said that she had expected Decker to run for the seat.

“She certainly knows the territory,” Davis said. “This is the only district that’s only in Cambridge, and she certainly knows the issues in Cambridge and has a passion for them.”

Wolf’s decision comes on the heels of two similar announcements from the Cambridge political scene. Longtime City Manager Robert W. Healy announced this week that he intends to retire next year—news which came within a month of former Cambridge City Clerk D. Margaret Drury’s decision to retire.

—Staff writer Kerry M. Flynn can be reached at kflynn@college.harvard.edu.

—Staff writer Maya S. Jonas-Silver can be reached at mayajonas-silver@college.harvard.edu.