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Josh Kraft to run against Boston Mayor Michelle Wu

Josh Kraft to run for Boston mayor
Josh Kraft to run for Boston mayor 02:52

The opinions expressed below are Jon Keller's, not those of WBZ, CBS News or Paramount Global.

BOSTON - Josh Kraft, the son of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, is running against Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, WBZ-TV confirmed Tuesday.

Wu, who just had a baby last week, is in the final year of her first term. The election will be on November 4.

Who is Josh Kraft? 

Don't be embarrassed if you have no idea who Josh Kraft is. His Wikipedia entry isn't even sure what year he was born, 1966 or 1967.

But Kraft has not exactly been the invisible man. For more than a decade he served as CEO of the Boston chapter of the Boys & Girls Club, and is a well-known figure in the local philanthropic community through his work with the Kraft Family Charities (he is the third-eldest son of Robert and the late Myra Kraft) and, more recently, as chairman of the board of the eastern Massachusetts Chapter of the National Urban League. He is a graduate of Williams College with a masters degree in social policy and education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

josh and robert kraft
Josh Kraft and his father Robert at the Westin Waterfront in Boston on Saturday, March 7, 2015. Arthur Pollock/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images

Josh Kraft campaign  

We'll all learn more about Josh Kraft in the weeks to come; a February campaign kickoff is reportedly in the works. His community work, well-known name and access to campaign resources make him, on paper, a serious candidate.

But like any election involving an incumbent, this race will ultimately be a referendum on Mayor Wu. There's scarce polling available publicly, but what there is suggests she enjoys majority support across the city.

Mayor Wu's challenges

But this is Boston, a place where grievances are nursed and never forgotten. And there are some important sectors of the electorate that have a few bones to pick with Wu these days, including:


Black voters. On her way to victory in November 2021, Wu defeated the first Black mayor, Kim Janey, and a popular Black city councilor, Andrea Campbell (now the state's attorney general). She has appeared to upset some Black voters with her plan to share White Stadium with a pro soccer team, her aborted effort to move a popular math-and-science-oriented high school from Roxbury to West Roxbury, and her proposed makeover of parts of Blue Hill Avenue. On other issues of importance to the Black community (and citywide) such as housing, crime and the cost of living, Wu certainly has a case to make, but whether or not Black voters will give her high marks or an incomplete remains to be seen.

The business community. Wu's failed effort to raise commercial real estate taxes to help balance the rapidly-increasing city budget angered a lot of business owners and developers, including some past supporters of hers. She has branded herself as the champion of the residential property owner, who are now receiving sharp increases in their relatively-low tax rates to make up the difference. It would be a mistake to underestimate Wu's political acumen; she topped the citywide ticket in two council races before mopping up in the mayoral race, and has used the dispute over tax rates to tune up her political machine. Still, her handling of the tax situation has made some new enemies who could provide fertile soil for Kraft.

Conservatives. You'd be surprised how many of them there are in the city of Boston, and they vote. From the North End, where some critics are still fuming over her ban on outdoor dining, to the 36% of the electorate that voted for Anissa Essaibi George over Wu in 2021, there's a significant pool of voters who may not have warmed up to her since then.

But keep one salient fact in mind: it's been 76 years since an incumbent Boston mayor (James Michael Curley) lost a re-election bid. Hope Josh Kraft has good hiking boots; he's facing an uphill climb.

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