Cambridge Vice Mayor Burnham Azeem pitches record of results in crowded 2nd Middlesex Senate race

Cambridge Vice Mayor Burhan Azeem says Massachusetts remains a great place to live but one that too many residents can no longer afford.

In an interview, the 29-year-old city councilor returned repeatedly to that tension. It is, he said, the central motivation behind his campaign for the open 2nd Middlesex District state Senate seat.

The race follows the retirement of Sen. Pat Jehlen, who announced in December that she would not seek re-election after 20 years representing the district. The district includes Medford, Somerville and parts of Cambridge and Winchester.

Azeem formally announced his candidacy Feb. 18.

“Right now, we settle for managing problems instead of solving them,” he said in a campaign video.

He has identified housing, transit, child care and utility costs as his top priorities. He frames his campaign around what he calls a “philosophy of abundance,” the idea that affordability and progressive policy goals can align if government focuses on building and delivering.

Azeem is one of four declared candidates.

State Rep. Christine Barber, who represents Medford and Somerville, has announced her candidacy. So has Somerville City Councilor Matt McLaughlin, the Ward 1 representative with 12 years in municipal office. Winchester School Committee member Tom Hopcroft, a technology and climate-sector leader, is also running. State Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven, who represents the 27th Middlesex District, entered the race on March 2.

The state primary is scheduled for Sept. 1.

Building a record in Cambridge

Azeem was first elected to the Cambridge City Council in 2021 after narrowly losing a previous bid by about 500 votes. He has said he was the youngest councilor in city history at the time.

He was elected vice mayor last month.

Azeem argues that what sets him apart in the Senate race is his record.

“I think what distinguishes me from the field is my record,” he said. “No one has the record that I do, where we’ve actually been able to pass one big piece of legislation year after year.”

He points to three major initiatives during his time on the council: eliminating parking mandates, expanding the city’s affordable housing overlay, and passing a sweeping multifamily housing ordinance.

Ending parking mandates

The first major bill he introduced eliminated parking mandates in Cambridge.

Before the change, new developments were required to include a set number of parking spaces. Azeem argued that requirement no longer reflected how many residents live.

“In Cambridge, at least a third of people don’t own a car at all,” he said.

The specific basis for that figure — whether it refers to households, residents or another metric — was not detailed in the interview.

Azeem said the previous rules also limited flexibility. For example, a bank’s parking lot could not easily be shared with a neighboring business after hours.

After the change, he said, some homeowners were able to remove underused pavement and replace it with gardens.

He said Cambridge was the first city in New England to eliminate parking mandates. Somerville later followed, and Boston has discussed similar changes in committee.

Expanding housing options

Azeem later pushed to expand Cambridge’s affordable housing overlay. He said amendments to the policy increased development and were paired with additional funding for the Affordable Housing Trust.

Specific funding amounts were not detailed in the interview.

Last year, he led passage of a multifamily housing ordinance allowing apartments and triple-deckers citywide. The measure passed 8-1 and drew coverage in The Economist.

Azeem rejects the shorthand description that the ordinance “eliminated single-family zoning.”

“Your single family home is perfect. You get to keep it,” he said.

He said that prior to the reform, 85% of buildings in Cambridge were nonconforming under existing zoning rules. That meant many homeowners could not add a bedroom, expand a porch, or build a dormer without special approval.

A philosophy of abundance

Azeem describes his broader governing approach as one of “abundance.”

In practice, he said, that means rejecting the idea that progressive policy requires sacrifice.

On climate change, for example, he argued that renewable energy development can reduce costs if permitting barriers are addressed.

“I just think that’s a false choice,” he said of the notion that greener energy must cost more. “You can build wind turbines and solar and all sorts of green energy supply, and it will actually bring costs lower.”

He applied the same thinking to transit.

Azeem said the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has suffered from chronic under-investment and that lawmakers too often settle for incremental improvements.

“Metro Boston has a GDP of Poland,” he said. “We should be able to have a functioning transit system.”

He called for a more ambitious approach to funding and expanding the system rather than managing decline.

On child care, Azeem pointed to Cambridge’s universal prekindergarten program. He said the city had attempted to create such a program for decades before it was implemented following his election and that of allied councilors.

He said he would pursue a similar program at the state level.

He also cited Cambridge’s community electricity program, which he said delivers lower costs and cleaner energy than the statewide default rate, as a model for broader use.

Transparency and Beacon Hill culture

Azeem was sharply critical of the culture of the State House.

He described what he sees as a reluctance to hold public votes in committee.

“There’s a go-along-to-get-along attitude and almost a fear of voters,” he said.

He contrasted that with the state’s 351 municipalities, which operate under open meeting laws and conduct debates in public.

“You can trust constituents to understand and be part of conversations,” Azeem said.

He argued that secrecy breeds mistrust and that greater transparency would strengthen public confidence.

Azeem said he supported the MBTA Communities Act but offered a nuanced critique.

He said the law was “right in spirit” but written in a way that maximized political conflict while producing limited compliance. In some communities, he said, rezoning occurred primarily on industrial land or in areas already built with multifamily housing.

In Cambridge and Somerville, he said, the law had minimal impact because zoning was already relatively permissive.

He suggested that future housing reforms could be structured in ways that encourage more meaningful production while reducing backlash.

Lessons in leadership

Asked what he has learned since taking office at a young age, Azeem pointed to process. He said one of the most important lessons was giving constituents advance notice when he anticipated voting in a way that might disappoint part of his base.

“They don’t only deserve an answer, they deserve the chance to make their case,” he said.

Allowing people to be heard before a vote, he said, can lead to better policy and sometimes to incorporating their ideas into legislation.

For Azeem, the overarching goal is shifting expectations.

“We settle into low expectations,” he said. “The big win is to manage the problem instead of fixing it.”

In this race, he is asking voters to expect more.