CAMBRIDGE, MD - A familiar face in Cambridge has been elected to the office of mayor as current council president Lajan Cephas defeats former mayor Andrew Bradshaw in Tuesday night’s runoff election.
On December 3rd, election officials in the City of Cambridge tallied the votes and officially declared Cephas had defeated Bradshaw in a runoff election. Cephas took 712 of the votes and Bradshaw 653. Neither candidate received a majority of votes in the city’s mayoral election in October, prompting Tuesday’s runoff.
Bradshaw shared a social media post just after 9 p.m. conceding to and congratulating Cephas minutes before the final tally was shared.
Polls opened at 447 Race Street at 7 a.m. Tuesday and closed at 7 p.m.
Cephas’ victory comes nearly two years after Bradshaw resigned from the position of Mayor following a “revenge porn” scandal involving a former girlfriend. Cephas also faced legal challenges in 2022 and was charged with assault, though that charge was later dropped.
Cambridge’s previous mayor Steve Rideout announced in November he was cutting his term short, with Tuesday being his last day as acting mayor. Cephas will now be sworn in next month.
We spoke with Cephas after the results came in. She says there will not be much of a change. "The work continues. I'm currently a city council member. Our mayor just retired, effective today, so I have the power of mayor at this time. So it basically means we're going to continue to work," says Cephas.
Cephas says she also plans to continue her focus on economic development, housing, and juvenile crime. But she says the city could do more to interact with the community.
"So one opportunity I know the city has is the lack of engagement. We could always do better with that," says Cephas. "The city needs to organize some group of people that can focus on outreach so that everyone is aware of the programs that are available within the city."
Cephas tells us she will be sworn in at the first city council meeting in January. As for the seat as commission president, she says the council will decide on who will fill that seat shortly after.
