UPDATE: In an escalating battle ahead of Boston’s mayoral election, candidate Josh Kraft is intensifying his attacks on incumbent Mayor Michelle Wu just days before the critical preliminary election on September 9, 2023. Kraft accused the Wu administration of conspiring with allies on the City Council to delay hearings on pressing issues, aiming to sidestep controversy until after the election.
Standing outside City Hall alongside Councilors Erin Murphy and Ed Flynn, both Wu critics, Kraft charged that delays on critical resolutions are detrimental to Boston’s residents, particularly in the troubled area of Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard, known as Mass. and Cass, the epicenter of the city’s substance abuse crisis.
“These proposals go to die in a committee,” Kraft declared, referencing Flynn’s resolution to declare a public health emergency in the area. He emphasized that other vital topics, including sidewalk repairs, trash collection, and school safety, are similarly neglected.
“The mayor has a lot to say about democracy in the face of Donald Trump, but this is not how a healthy democracy operates,” Kraft stated.
In response, Wu acknowledged scheduling challenges but defended her administration’s commitment to transparency. “We do our very best on the administration side to respond to the many, many requests that we get from councilors,” she said, according to the Boston Herald.
Last week, Kraft also highlighted allegations from a watchdog group claiming improper property tax increases for commercial real estate owners challenging their valuations. Both city and state officials have dismissed these allegations as unfounded.
Kraft, who launched his mayoral campaign in February 2023, has relentlessly critiqued Wu on issues ranging from the city’s low housing stock to the rising costs of renovations at White Stadium. His criticisms extend to the rising public drug use, particularly as it spreads beyond Mass. and Cass.
Wu has countered Kraft’s attacks by scrutinizing his campaign funding and personal interests, including a new soccer stadium being developed just outside Boston in Everett. She asserted that Kraft’s criticisms lack substance and that the city has made substantial progress in addressing homelessness and drug addiction.
“It’s no surprise that, like with every other issue, Josh Kraft has plenty of criticism, but no new ideas,” Wu remarked.
According to a recent Suffolk University and Boston Globe poll, Wu holds a substantial lead over Kraft with 59% to 29% among likely voters. Other contenders, Domingos DaRosa and Robert Capucci, garnered only 2.8% and 0.8%, respectively, with 6.6% of voters still undecided.
As the election date draws near, the Kraft campaign believes that voter awareness will increase. “While insiders have been talking about the mayor’s race for months, most voters have been focused on other things,” said Will Keyser, a senior adviser to Kraft.
Early voting for the preliminary election begins on Saturday, with two candidates set to advance to the general election scheduled for November 4, 2023. As public interest in the race intensifies, all eyes are on how these final days will unfold.
