Headline: Boston’s Mayoral Race: A Glance Into Candidacy 

The mayoral election season in Boston is coming up, and will be on Nov. 4. This race’s ticket includes incumbent candidate Mayor Michelle Wu and Josh Kraft, CEO of the Boys & Girls Club based in Boston and son of Robert Kraft, owner of the New England Patriots.

Primary elections take place on Sept. 9. Here is an overview of both candidates’ previous political history and current campaign.

Wu graduated from Harvard Law School and started her professional career as an intern for former Mayor Tom Menino in City Hall in 2010. She was also a member of Boston College’s Rappaport Fellowship, an organization that provides law school students with opportunities connecting them to careers in public policy. 

Wu’s campaign is centered on mitigating the harsh effects of climate change, promoting free public transit, reducing traffic and creating more green spaces for the community, according to Wu’s campaign site.

Recently, a point of contention for Wu has been her decision to renovate White Stadium. In an interview conducted by the Daily Free Press, reporters found that Wu’s initiative has made some voters switch over to supporting Kraft’s candidacy instead.  

Since Wu has taken office, she has cut the ribbon for 20 new green spaces in the city and signed an executive order to form Boston’s Climate Council. The council’s goal is to reduce greenhouse gases and reach a balance between carbon emissions and carbon absorption by 2050. To minimize traffic in Boston, Mayor Wu has also increased MBTA ridership by eliminating fares on selective buses and installing more speed humps on traffic-heavy streets to protect pedestrians stated on Wu’s website.

On the other end of the ticket, Kraft graduated from Williams College before working at a nonprofit that protected at-risk youth in South Boston. Elected in 2008, Josh Kraft was the President and CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs in Boston, and spent 15 years as an executive director working closely with city youth and employees after founding the Chelsea sector of the Boys & Girls Club in 1993. 

Kraft has taken the path of campaigning for more affordable housing, an improved Boston Public School system, public safety on both Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard and traffic in Boston, according to his website.

Kraft formed partnerships with over 200 other programs in Boston and Chelsea and raised the Boys & Girls Club’s budget to $26 million while running a five-year campaign that raised an estimated $132 million, according to Kraft’s campaign website. 

Kraft is currently the president of the New England Patriots Foundation, and is in charge of millions of dollars in philanthropic support of education, health, social justice, diversity and youth development. He sits on the boards of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, Boys & Girls Clubs of America and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

A point of contention concerning Kraft’s campaign lies within false claims about the amount of money Boston is providing for White Stadium’s rebuild. An article published by WBUR stated that on June 16 Kraft claimed that White Stadium renovations would cost Boston taxpayers $172 million, contradicting the $91 million that was estimated by Wu. 

As of press time, Kraft denied the opportunity to elaborate on any other facts about White Stadium with WBUR reporters. Wu later addressed the claims with reporters, stating that she’s “not sure where those numbers are coming from,” according to the WBUR report.

Another report published by WBUR stated that the topic of housing in Boston sparked a debate between Wu and Kraft on July 15 during a candidate forum hosted by the Massachusetts Affordable Homeownership Alliance. Wu promoted the increase in income-restrictive housing, while Josh Kraft said there should be a decrease and the percentages should return to the original 13% instead of 20%. 

Kraft stated that with the old percentages, the construction of 26,000 units would be approved. Mayor Wu opposed Kraft’s argument, claiming that the reason for the delay in building those 26,000 units was not for the affordability requirements, but instead because of high interest rates occurring nationally. 

Polls conducted by Saint Anselm College this past April found that voters who prioritize housing prefer Michelle Wu over Josh Kraft. 

According to a MassLive article, the most recent poll that was conducted by the Boston Globe between July 13 and July 16 took into account the preferences of 500 voters. 64% of the respondents said that they were happy with Michelle Wu’s first term as Mayor. 59% of respondents said they would vote Wu for mayor, while 29% of respondents would vote for Josh Kraft.