Mayoral candidate Josh Kraft on Boston bike lanes, struggling schools and how he's different from Michelle Wu
BOSTON - Democrat Josh Kraft, the son of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, is challenging Mayor Michelle Wu in the 2025 Boston mayoral election, an enterprise he says involves listening as much as speaking.
In his first Sunday TV public-affairs interview, Kraft sketched out some details of what he'd do differently from the first-term incumbent.
"I've spent my professional life working in the neighborhoods in and around Boston, and the thing I've learned the most, one of the greatest keys to whatever success I had, is listening and learning from everybody, and not just listening, but truly hearing," Kraft told WBZ-TV.
Struggling Boston schools
Kraft spoke about the struggling Boston public schools.
"We can't get kids to school on time. And if I'm a parent and I know a school system can't get my kids to school on time ... consistently, you're going to start to think, 'Well, if they can't get my kid to school on time, that's concerning to me. What else am I not seeing in the school building?'" he said.
While praising the work of Superintendent Mary Skipper, Kraft suggested she needs help.
"Maybe we get a second superintendent that focuses on operations, busses, etc. I think if you have the right people, logistics are essential. Let's worry about the little things, the big things take care of themselves."
Boston bike lanes
Kraft also weighed in on the city's controversial expansion of bike lanes into downtown and neighborhood business districts.
"I'd set a pause on bike lane to bike lane construction. I am for bike lanes, I just think the proliferation and the haphazard way it's laid out is not benefiting the everyday people in our city, families, seniors, our disabled communities and small businesses who are getting hurt by it as well," Kraft said. "A lot of the folks I've spoken to who have had those complaints feel like they haven't been listened to by the administration. There just doesn't seem to be a thought process toward a strategy to it. It seems to me like rushing to put them down has caused more of congestion and lack of ability to move around the city."
How is Josh Kraft different from Michelle Wu?
Kraft said there is a key difference between Wu-style governance and what he's offering.
"We're not going to focus on ideology. We're going to focus on getting results for the people of Boston. We're going to share a vision, and part of that vision is going to be the impact and the results that [are] going to come from it, and that's the message we want to get out," Kraft said. "[People] want to hear about results. They want to see results, and they want to feel impact, and I don't think they have."
You can watch the entire interview on-demand in the video player above. Stay with WBZ News and the Sunday edition of Keller At Large for extensive coverage of the mayoral race all year long.
