Cambridge City Council Elects Simmons Mayor, McGovern Vice Mayor

Updated: Tuesday, January 2 at 1:07 a.m.

The Cambridge City Council elected Councilor E. Denise Simmons to serve as the city’s next mayor during a City Council meeting Monday, denying Councilor Sumbul Siddiqui a third term in the role.

Simmons’ election came during the first meeting of the council’s 2024-2025 term, just moments after three newly elected councilors — Joan F. Pickett, Ayesha M. Wilson, and former councilor Jivan G. Sobrinho-Wheeler — were inaugurated into office.

The councilors also elected Marc C. McGovern as Cambridge’s vice mayor. The duo previously served together as mayor and vice mayor in the 2016-2017 term.

At the start of the meeting, members of the Boston chapter of the Party for Socialism and Liberation interrupted the councilors’ oaths of office for 20 minutes.

Protestors criticized the Council for failing to pass a ceasefire resolution in response to the Israel-Hamas conflict in its previous term, accusing councilors of supporting genocide in Gaza.

They also called on the city to support the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions movement against Israel and to shut down the Cambridge facilities of defense contractors Raytheon and Elbit Systems, which provide support to Israel.

During the mayoral vote following the protest, councilors were initially divided across several candidates before unanimously choosing Simmons during a second round of voting. Councilors then elected McGovern vice mayor by an 8-1 vote, with councilor Patricia M. “Patty” Nolan ’80 being the sole holdout.

Simmons’ election ends a four-year tenure for Siddiqui, who was first elected mayor in 2020 — becoming the first Muslim mayor in Massachusetts — and served throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.

The vote follows a Boston Globe investigation in October alleging that Siddiqui fostered a toxic workplace. Eight women who worked for Siddiqui since 2017 stated that she had personally disparaged and professionally retaliated against them.

Siddiqui denied the accusations and called the Globe article “one sided” in an October statement to The Crimson, and said she was working to improve her management skills.

Simmons, the body’s longest-serving councilor, will enter her third term as Cambridge’s mayor. Her first election to the post, in 2008, also made history when she became the first Black, openly lesbian mayor in the nation.

As a councilor, Simmons has supported progressive policies around affordable housing, including the controversial amendments to the 100%-Affordable Housing Zoning Overlay. She has also spearheaded Council initiatives around racial and social justice, including a recent policy order establishing an American Freedmen Commission in Cambridge to determine reparations for the descendants of enslaved people.

At the Monday meeting, Simmons expressed her gratitude and enthusiasm for her upcoming tenure as Mayor.

“I’m grateful to have my colleagues, each of you, for having returned me to this role for the third time,” Simmons said. “I’m humbled by the privilege to be of service in this capacity once again.”

—Staff writer Muskaan Arshad can be reached at muskaan.arshad@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @MuskaanArshad or on Threads @muskarshad.