The History of Close Elections in Cambridge

The History of Close Elections in Cambridge (1941 to present)

Close Election	Outcome (defeated candidate in purple) [margin in red]
1945 City Council	28th Count: Arthur Drinkwater 2546, John Foley 2462, Thomas McNamara 2330, Francis Sennott 2288 [42] 29th Count: Thomas McNamara 2753, John Foley 2750, Arthur Drinkwater 2617 [133]
1945 City Council Recount	28th Count: Arthur Drinkwater 2551, John Foley 2457, Thomas McNamara 2335, Francis Sennott 2305 [30] 29th Count: Thomas McNamara 2752, John Foley 2738, Arthur Drinkwater 2625 [113]
1959 School Committee	16th Count: Daniel J. Hayes Jr. 3215, Joseph E. Maynard 3196 [19] The result was not contested.
1961 School Committee	11th Count: Joseph E. Maynard 3557, George F. Oleson Jr. 3502, Douglas Adams 3487 [15]
1961 School Committee Recount	11th Count: Joseph E. Maynard 3569, George F. Oleson Jr. 3516, Douglas Adams 3482 [34]
1963 City Council	9th Count: Thomas H.D. Mahoney 2623, William Maher 2592 [31] The result was not contested.
1963 School Committee	10th Count: Edward M. McMahon 3893, Anthony Galluccio Sr. 3806 [87]
1963 School Committee Recount	10th Count: Edward M. McMahon 3903, Anthony Galluccio Sr. 3816 [87]
1969 City Council	16th Count: Thomas Coates 2070, Thomas H.D. Mahoney 1997, Leonard J. Russell 1918 [79]
1969 City Council Recount	16th Count: Thomas Coates 2060, Thomas H.D. Mahoney 2004, Leonard J. Russell 1925 [79]
1971 City Council	23rd Count: Robert P. Moncrieff 2253, Francis Duehay 2206, Leonard J. Russell 2164 [42]
1971 City Council Recount	23rd Count: Robert P. Moncrieff 2245, Francis Duehay 2208, Leonard J. Russell 2171 [37]
1977 City Council	13th Count: David Clem 1624, Mary Ellen Pruesser 1566, David E. Sullivan 1559 [7] The result was not contested. David Clem was defeated in a later count.
1977 School Committee	4th Count: Sara Mae Berman 2484, Charles Pierce 2360, James F. Fitzgerald 2358 [2] 5th Count: Sara Mae Berman 2685, Charles Pierce 2513 [172] The result was not contested.
1979 School Committee	7th Count: Glenn Koocher 3160, David Holway 3103 [57] The result was not contested.
1989 School Committee	5th Count: Fred Fantini 3276, James J. Rafferty 3200, David P. Maher 3166 [34]
1989 School Committee Recount	5th Count: Fred Fantini 3275, James J. Rafferty 3192, David P. Maher 3181 [11]
1993 City Council	16th Count: James McSweeney 1737, Katherine Triantafillou 1727, Kathleen Born 1657, Ed Cyr 1645 [12] 17th Count: Kathleen Born 1992, William Walsh 1908, James McSweeney 1861 [47]
2001 City Council	13th Count: David Maher 1623, Ken Reeves 1535, John Pitkin 1476 [59]
2001 School Committee	8th Count: Alan Price 2283, Nancy Walser 2220, Richard Harding 2219, Susana Segat 2213 [6] Only 70 votes separate four candidates vying for three seats. Only 7 votes separate three candidates vying for two seats.
If you need to find out about the laws governing the Cambridge elections, they are in Chapter 54A of the Mass. General Laws. (PDF) Chapter 54A of the Mass. General Laws. (HTML) These are taken from an older edition of the M.G.L. There may be additional cross references since then.