Boston Mayor Michelle Wu easily topped the ticket in Tuesday’s preliminary, and will move onto the November general election, when she will face longtime philanthropist Josh Kraft, who was trailing her by roughly 40 points soon after polls closed.
Wu, the popular first-term progressive mayor, was so far ahead of her three challengers that the race was called for her by the Associated Press before 8:30 p.m. Polls closed at 8 p.m.
Early results were in line with an Emerson College poll released last week that showed Kraft was behind Wu by 50 points, with just days to go before the preliminary election.
As of 8:30 p.m. Wu had roughly 68 percent of the vote. Kraft, a son of the billionaire New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, had roughly 28% of the vote. The Associated Press called the second-place for Kraft before 9 p.m. He and Wu will face off in November.
The other two candidates, Robert Cappucci, a retired Boston Police officer, and community activist Domingos DaRosa, each had managed to secure less than 4% of the vote according to the preliminary results available after the polls closed..
Wu and Kraft had yet to make it to their election night parties, an outdoor rally for Wu in Roslindale and an event at the Ironworkers Local 7 Hall for Kraft in South Boston, by the time the race was called.
A modest crowd was gathered in South Boston for Kraft as music blared across speakers and supporters mingled inside the union’s headquarters. Iron Workers Local 7 endorsed Kraft earlier this year.
Anthony Seymour, who described himself as a friend of Kraft, told the gathered crowd that Boston is going in the wrong direction.
“I think for the most part that things in Boston are really taking a deep dive for the worst reason, and we’re here right now to take it up,” he said. “If you believe in Josh, you believe in change.”
Vincent Coyle, the business manager for the South Boston-based union Ironworkers Local 7, said many of his members are struggling to find work and have been pushed out of the city because of high housing costs.
“Our work here has slowed down big time. A lot of the commercial building has stopped. Some housing, but not a lot,” Coyle told the Herald shortly after addressing the crowd at Kraft’s event.
Coyle said a victory for Kraft Tuesday night is as simple as moving forward.
“There’s another election after this,” he said. “We want to see where the chips lie.”
Kraft injected millions of his own personal money into the campaign and set records for spending in a Boston mayoral preliminary election.
Wu, the city’s first Asian and female leader, has been bolstered in part by her defense of the city against attacks from the Trump administration. Kraft, whose father has had a friendly relationship with President Donald Trump in the past, has also attacked the president, saying at a union campaign event last month that Trump has “stoked hatred and division throughout our country.”
Kraft has pushed Wu particularly hard on housing, saying she hasn’t done enough to increase options and affordability. In 2023, Wu advanced a proposal to cap annual rent increases for most units that was blocked by the state Legislature.
Kraft has proposed a rent control system that would allow landlords to opt in to receive a real estate tax rebate after 10 years. It would not require legislative approval.
— Herald wire services contributed
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