AUGUST 31, 2026
Dear Cambridge and Somerville Constituents —
Tomorrow, September 1, is the state primary election day!
Polls are open from 7 am until 8 pm in Cambridge and Somerville.
If you are currently holding a Vote By Mail ballot or an absentee ballot — it is too late to return your ballot in the mail. This is because, for primary elections, vote by mail ballots must be received by 8 pm on Election Day.
You can still return your vote by mail ballot to the drop box in front of the Cambridge Election Commission (689 Mass Ave) anytime until 8 pm tomorrow. In Somerville, you can return your vote by mail ballot until 6 pm tomorrow at any of the citywide drop boxes (such as the one across from 66 Glen Street in East Somerville) or until 8 pm tomorrow at the drop box located at Somerville City Hall.
In addition, if you are currently holding a vote by mail ballot, you may show up at your regular polling place tomorrow and ask to vote normally. Your vote by mail ballot will be voided and you will be handed a regular ballot.
In addition, you can use the state's Voter Registration Search webpage to confirm your voter status, ward, precinct, polling location, and legislative districts. To find this information by address instead of name and date of birth, you can also visit www.WhereDoIVoteMA.com.
For even more information, you can visit the Cambridge Election Commissionwebsite or the Somerville Elections Department website. And you are always welcome to call me directly on my cellphone (857.236.1901) if you need additional assistance.
For the record, I use this blog as a way to share updates from my State House office. So you won't find any campaign messaging in this post. I do however want to use this page to make sure everyone knows about tomorrow's state primary and how to vote.
August Updates
Of course, this month, most local legislators have been busy with campaign activities. However, a lot of substantive work has occurred, too.
Earlier this month, I participated in a walk audit from Assembly Row through the Kensington Underpass and over to Foss Park in East Somerville, examining city and state infrastructure and gathering feedback from public participants on how to design future projects to best enhance bike safety and the pedestrian experience.
More about the walk audit is posted on my Instagram.
Also this month, Governor Healey invited me to stand with her and other legislative leaders as she signed the PROTECT Act into law. This is legislation I co-sponsored to better protect our immigrant neighbors and defend everyone's constitutional rights from the ICE crackdown. It's been hailed as a national model for keeping state and local law enforcement separate from federal civil immigration enforcement.
Last week, I participated in the City of Cambridge's Social Housing Task Force, where I sit as an official advisor. We discussed how the model of social housing could help fill gaps in the city's existing housing programs as the city looks to take advantage of language I got included in the Affordable Homes Act to authorize state funding for a social housing pilot project. After the meeting, Councilor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler and I made a quick video to provide an update on the meeting.
I also participated in a meeting at the Morse School in Cambridgeport where MassDOT presented its latest concepts for the Reid Overpass redesign. Honestly, this was a remarkable meeting. The intersection of Brookline Street, Memorial Drive, and the BU Bridge is incredibly challenging — but thanks to our efforts at encouraging MassDOT to work closely and directly with neighborhood leaders and safe streets advocates — a positive spirit of collaboration really emerged, as the MassDOT team is incorporating people's feedback. Also at this meeting, Bill Deignan, Transportation Program Manager for the City of Cambridge, announced the city will conduct a process to consider changes to some of the city-owned streets in the vicinity of the Reid Overpass.
Also this month, I met with senior administrators at DCR and MassDOT. DCR confirmed to me that this fall, they will be widening the sidewalk along Memorial Drive from the Magazine Beach Fitness Area up to River Street. This idea was suggested to me by DCR engineers who worked to widen the sidewalk from the BU Boathouse up to the Magazine Beach Fitness Area in the fall of 2024, after an SUV driver killed John Corcoran. Now, that same kind of work — taking a too-narrow sidewalk and widening it into a shared-use path — will be extended all along the Magazine Beach area up to River Street.
Finally, An Act Prioritizing Patient Access to Care was signed into law this month as well. This legislation expands access to abortions after 24 weeks of pregnancy, ensuring that physicians can provide medically necessary abortion care based on their professional medical judgment. The original bill, H.2370, was co-sponsored by me and filed by Reps. Barber of Somerville and Sabadosa of Northampton. There's more about this here on my State House blog.
Thank you, as always, for being an informed and engaged constituent. Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns about these items or any other matter of interest to you.
And of course, don't forget to vote tomorrow!
Yours in service,
Mike
