On September 1, 2026, Cambridge Democrats will decide whether to send Evan MacKay — a 29-year-old, Harvard PhD-JD candidate and self-described democratic socialist — to the Massachusetts State House. MacKay is Boston DSA’s only endorsed state-level candidate in the 2026 cycle. His platform calls for outlawing fossil fuel combustion in Massachusetts, defunding new prisons, ending life without parole, restoring voting rights to incarcerated felons, opening state-sanctioned drug injection sites, providing “abortion on demand,” and ending Massachusetts cooperation with ICE.
Who Evan MacKay Is
MacKay is a 29-year-old, “they/them” Harvard JD-PhD candidate in Sociology and Social Policy, where his academic work focuses on “the carceral system, youth justice systems, policing, and social disadvantage.” He is an active member of Boston DSA — the chapter’s own endorsement page describes him as such — and he identifies openly as a democratic socialist. On his campaign bio, MacKay writes: “As a democratic socialist, I am proud to be part of the same movement as Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Zohran Mamdani.”
MacKay grew up in what he describes as “a conservative part of Florida” and moved to Cambridge at 18 to attend Harvard. At Harvard, he helped organize HGSU-UAW Local 5118 and later served as union president. During the Cambridge Day debate, Rep. Marjorie Decker stated MacKay had been registered as a Republican “as recently as six years ago”; MacKay said closed Florida primaries had forced the registration. He has been previously linked to the Pro-Palestine protests in his area as well.
What Evan MacKay Believes
In his Progressive Massachusetts questionnaire, MacKay wrote: “I do not believe in healthcare, education, or housing for profit... Progressive Except for Palestine has allowed organizations like AIPAC to grow unchallenged and undermine the progressive movement.”
On climate, MacKay pledged to pursue “an immediate halt to all fossil fuel projects and a commitment on the part of the legislature to outlaw extraction and combustion of fossil fuels in Massachusetts” and “an immediate transition to 100% publicly owned renewable energy.”
On immigration, MacKay called it "shameful that MA is the only blue state with a voluntary 287(g) agreement with ICE" — a federal program that allows state and local law enforcement to partner with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to identify and detain illegal immigrants in state custody, particularly those with criminal records. MacKay pledged to end all state cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
On police and prisons, MacKay wrote: “Instead of allocating more and more money to police and creating a new prison to incarcerate women and girls in Massachusetts, we should fund universal childcare, youth jobs for every child... violence interrupters, restorative justice and healing circles.” He pledged to “end all life without parole” and “end all mandatory minimums.” He supports a moratorium on new prison construction, ending qualified immunity for police, and restoring the vote to incarcerated felons — writing: “We must have universal suffrage.”
On drugs, MacKay supports the legalization of “overdose prevention centers,” state-sanctioned drug injection sites, and “reparations for the war on drugs.”
On abortion, MacKay supports “free and fully supported abortion on demand.”
On race, MacKay supports “reparations from our state for the state-sponsored expansion and deepening of systemic racism” and Native American land claims: “I support #LandBack.”
Who Is Backing the Campaign
Boston DSA announced MacKay’s endorsement in January 2026: “Evan was UNANIMOUSLY endorsed at every step of the way, by hundreds of DSA members. They are one of our best.” The chapter has grown to 2,600 members and treats an endorsement as “a commitment from the Electoral Working Group to design a door-to-door campaign rostered by members” — the same DSA canvassing model that produced Mamdani in New York.
CAIR Action, the political arm of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, endorsed MacKay as part of its Massachusetts primary voter guide highlighting “pro-Palestine candidates across the state.” MacKay publicized the endorsement: “The Council on American-Islamic Relations is a powerful voice for the Muslim community.” CAIR has long been alleged to operate as a Muslim Brotherhood front group and was named by the Department of Justice as an unindicted co-conspirator in the 2008 Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing trial — after which the FBI suspended all formal contact with the organization.
Massachusetts Peace Action, on whose board MacKay sits, endorsed MacKay as “the peace candidate in this race.” The organization has spent years lobbying to “divest our state from genocide in Gaza” and organizing against U.S. military aid to Israel.
Our Revolution Cambridge, the local chapter of the Bernie Sanders-founded successor organization, also endorsed MacKay. Our Revolution has nationally backed Mamdani, AOC, and Rashida Tlaib.
Other endorsers include UAW Region 9A, Progressive Massachusetts, Act on Mass, Progressive Victory, IBEW 2222 AFL-CIO, and Progressive Democrats of Massachusetts.
Boston DSA’s Alliance With ANSWER Coalition
The chapter MacKay actively belongs to has publicly partnered with the ANSWER Coalition, an anti-war organization founded and led by the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a self-declared Marxist-Leninist communist organization. In a public post on X, Boston DSA encouraged “our members and all people of conscience to attend the RALLY being held TODAY by the ANSWER Coalition” — a “Hands Off Venezuela” demonstration opposing U.S. pressure on the Nicolás Maduro regime. Boston DSA promoted the rally alongside its own logo and directed its members to gather at the Boston Common Visitors Center before joining the ANSWER protest.
ANSWER was founded in 2001 by the International Action Center, a project of the Workers World Party, a Marxist-Leninist organization that has historically defended authoritarian regimes including North Korea, Syria under Bashar al-Assad, and Slobodan Milošević’s Serbia. PSL, ANSWER’s operational leadership, has openly declared, “We are communists.” ANSWER has actively organized in defense of Maduro’s government against U.S. sanctions and military pressure.
MacKay did not publicly distance himself from Boston DSA’s ANSWER partnership.
The Money
According to Massachusetts OCPF records, MacKay has raised approximately $204,000 in the 2026 cycle through Committee filer #18680, processed through ActBlue.
The campaign emphasizes it has not accepted “any money from corporate special interests, unionbusting CEOs, and real estate developers” and has signed the People’s Pledge refusing lobbyist contributions above $200. MacKay’s early 2026 fundraising exceeded his entire 2024 cycle by the end of January.
What a Win Would Mean
A MacKay victory would give Boston DSA its first state legislator and a fourth DSA-endorsed officeholder in the Cambridge-Somerville corridor. It would install in Cambridge — home to Harvard’s campus, where mass Jewish member resignations occurred under MacKay’s union presidency — a legislator committed to ending Massachusetts’ ICE cooperation, divesting state funds from Israel, defunding new prisons, and moving toward single-payer healthcare.
It would seat on Beacon Hill an active member of a DSA chapter that publicly marches with a Marxist-Leninist coalition defending the Maduro regime. And it would validate the same organizing model — DSA canvass infrastructure, an Islamist and anti-Israel activist coalition, and public-sector unions — that produced Zohran Mamdani in New York.
The 25th Middlesex primary is September 1. The socialist is on the ballot. Voters will decide.