Three Progressive Groups Endorse Evan MacKay in Renewed Challenge to Decker

Three progressive groups endorsed Evan C. MacKay ’19’s bid for the 25th Middlesex district, backing a renewed campaign to unseat incumbent State Rep. Marjorie C. Decker.

United Auto Workers Region 9A, Our Revolution Cambridge, and Progressive Victory endorsed MacKay on Sunday at a Trans Day of Visibility rally.

The endorsements are among the first since MacKay launched their campaign in January. Within days of that launch, Boston and Cambridge chapters of the Democratic Socialists of America also endorsed the challenge.

Both UAW and Our Revolution Cambridge both endorsed MacKay in 2024. And Sunday’s announcements signal where Cambridge’s progressive organizations are putting their weight this election cycle.

The UAW is one of the most politically active unions in the country with Region 9A covering Massachusetts and several northeastern states — representing graduate students, childcare workers, bookstore workers, non-tenure-track faculty, and legal service workers. In the 25th Middlesex district, which covers much of Harvard’s campus, the union has more members living, working, and voting within its boundaries than any other union, according to MacKay’s campaign.

The endorsement also underscores MacKay’s ties to the union: they previously served as president of the Harvard Graduate Students’ Union-UAW before stepping down to run in 2024.

Siobhan McDonough, chair trustee of UAW Local 2320, said the union endorsed MacKay in part over concerns about the Legislature’s record on trans protections.

“As someone who works with fellow trans people across MA, I see every day how the legislature has failed to protect us,” McDonough wrote. “We need a champion like Evan who deeply understands these issues and will fight for all of us.”

Our Revolution Cambridge — the local arm of a nonprofit born from Bernie Sanders’s 2016 campaign — endorsed MacKay over their push for State House transparency. Since 2017, the group has focused exclusively on City Council and School Committee races, making this its first endorsement in a state legislative contest.

“Our Revolution Cambridge supports Evan because Evan has pledged to increase transparency in the legislature. I am tired of having the least productive legislature in the country,” wrote Kathy Watkins, a decade-long member of Our Revolution Cambridge.

Progressive Victory is a hybrid PAC, allowing it to both make independent expenditures and directly contribute to campaigns. The group, founded in 2022, has largely focused on canvassing, voter contact, and volunteer mobilization — often recruiting first-time activists from online platforms. Though this marks Progressive Victory’s first endorsement for MacKay, the group employs a similar strategy to MacKay’s 2024 campaign, which was powered almost entirely by volunteer door-knocking.

Decker has not yet reported endorsements in the current race. In 2024, she was endorsed by a broad coalition of labor groups and elected officials, including the Massachusetts AFL-CIO, multiple Service Employees International Union chapters, the Massachusetts Building Trades Council, the Greater Boston Labor Council, and the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts.

She also secured endorsements from across state and local government, including then-Cambridge Mayor E. Denise Simmons, Gov. Maura T. Healey ’92, and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll.

—Staff writer Wyatt T. Zurline can be reached [email protected].