Boston’s Mayoral Election - Wu Wins, Months Before the General Election

Janet Yellen, Maura Healey, and Michelle Wu visit Roxbury Community College. Josh Kraft St. Patrick’s Day 2025. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Boston’s mayoral election is taking place on November 4, 2025, after a hard-fought primary. The two dominant candidates in the nonpartisan primary were incumbent Mayor Michelle Wu and philanthropist Josh Kraft.

The primary occurred on September 9, 2025, with results being confirmed not long after polls had closed. Wu earned 72 percent of the vote compared to Kraft’s 23 percent, a 49 percent lead. Other Democratic candidates, Domingos DaRosa and Robert Cappucci, received a combined 4.9 percent, with both receiving fewer than the 3,000 votes required to advance to the general election, cementing a second term for Wu barring a massive conservative swing in the general election. Due to the results heavily favoring Wu, Kraft dropped out of the race, stating, “During a time in America where we need to come closer together despite all our differences, instead of igniting divisiveness that pulls us further apart, it is not to get caught up in more political mudslinging but rather, to drive the conversation forward in a meaningful way.”

Wu has stood up to the Trump Administration throughout his second term, supporting Boston’s sanctuary city policies when called to testify in front of Congress. Kraft, on the other hand, had taken donations from Trump-aligned groups, with Wu urging Kraft to return the funds.

Polls throughout the year in the run-up to the election showed Wu holding a steady lead over Kraft, with the distance only growing as the election drew near. The first poll, conducted from February 24 to 26, 2025, by Emerson College, had Wu leading the pack with 43 percent of likely voters, followed by Josh Kraft with 29 percent, and Mendoza-Iturralde with 2 percent. Other candidates captured 2 percent of the likely vote and undecided voters accounted for 24 percent. Emerson Polling is a reputable source, becoming the fourth best pollster in the 2020 United States presidential election.

Another poll, conducted from April 23 through 25, 2025, by Saint Anselm College, showed Wu leading with an increase to 53.4 percent, Kraft with 21.1 percent, Domingos DeRosa with 2.3 percent, and Kerry Augustin with 0.5 percent. Voters with a preference for another candidate increased to 3.2 percent and undecided voters shrank to 19.5 percent. Saint Anselm College has received a neutral ranking.

In a July poll by Suffolk University, Michelle Wu increased her lead to 59.8 percent of likely voters, with Kraft remaining behind Wu in second place with 29.6 percent. Suffolk University polling ranked third in the nation during the 2020 election cycle.

Michelle Wu is the incumbent Mayor of Boston, first elected into the position in 2021. Before her election into the mayor’s office, she was a member of the Boston City Council elected as an At-Large councilor in 2013, where she later served as president of City Council, the first Asian American to do so. She attended Harvard College, graduating in 2007 earning a Bachelor of Arts in Economics and later a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law in 2012.

Wu’s campaign website has cited her record as Boston’s mayor as the foundation for her reelection campaign. A more affordable housing market, record-low gun violence, increased pedestrian safety, increased public transit ridership, and a more climate-resilient Boston have all been noted as successes during her time in City Hall. Her choice of issues advertises her first term as Mayor of Boston as a success, giving voters a strong foundation that they can rely on in another term.

Various groups, individuals, and leaders from federal to state governments have endorsed Wu, including United States House Representative Ayanna Pressley, various state politicians, former Red Sox player David Ortiz, and the labor union Local Teamsters 25. As Wu’s endorsements mostly stem from the progressive wing of politics, she has cemented herself as a leader in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. However, Wu has bled support from other major labor unions, endorsing Kraft rather than Wu. 

Josh Kraft, before he campaigned for mayor, was the CEO and President of the Boys & Girls Club of Boston, which provides after school support for children in need. He subsequently became head of the Kraft Family Philanthropists, which includes the Kraft Family Foundation, the Patriots Foundation, and the Kraft Center for Community Health. He currently serves as the chairman of the National Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts. With his deep connections to the community and large amounts of wealth supporting him, Kraft poised himself as the right candidate to be mayor.

Kraft, the son of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, announced his campaign for Mayor of Boston on February 4th, 2025, with his major issues involving housing and transportation. Kraft's Campaign rests on promises to increase access and availability of affordable housing, put students and families first while prioritizing parent and community engagement, and bike lanes that he sees as poorly planned.

Endorsements of Kraft included a former commissioner of the Boston Police Department, as well as the International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental, and Reinforcing Iron Workers Local 7, and Laborers' International Union of North America Local 22, who had previously endorsed Michelle Wu during her 2021 campaign. They endorsed Kraft due to the slowdown in development and an increasing lack of construction work in the city.

With her landslide victory against Kraft, Wu is expected to take the victory in the general election, earning another term as Boston’s Mayor. In her second term, she will face challenges from both inside and outside the city, most notably from the federal government, as the Trump administration ramps up attacks on sanctuary city policies.

Although the election for Boston’s Mayor is all but decided, the elections for Boston City Council are hotly contested. The Boston City Council holds four at-large seats, with eight candidates in the race, and the four incumbent candidates advancing to the general election. The Boston City Council is a non-partisan institution, with incumbents Ruthzee Louijeune, Julia M. Mejia, Erin Murphy, Henry Santana will face off against challengers Frank Baker, Alexandra Valdez, Marvin Dee Mathelier and Will Onuoha.

Wu’s strong performance in the primary election demonstrates her popularity within the city, endorsing the continuation of her policies. It is not yet known if Wu will more aggressively seek to implement her policies with such a strong mandate and support from the primary election, with her unopposed in the general election. The Mayor of Boston is not a term limited office, the question persists if she will seek another term once her second has ended.