After months of anticipation, Josh Kraft, a son of billionaire Patriots owner Robert Kraft, finally launched his campaign for mayor of Boston. He made the announcement Tuesday at an event at the Prince Hall Masonic Lodge in Dorchester.
Since incumbent Mayor Michelle Wu has made it clear she plans to seek a second term, but hasn’t yet conducted an official announcement, Kraft’s announcement effectively marks the semi-official start of the 2025 Boston mayoral race.
So what did we learn about Kraft and the race ahead?
1. Kraft is tough to pigeonhole ideologically.
In his kickoff speech, Kraft elicited applause and cheers when he complained about Wu’s affinity for new bike and bus lanes, which he described as both “hastily installed” and “poorly conceived.” That’s an issue that tends to elicit passion among more conservative members of Boston’s electorate.
But Kraft also promised to finally make rent control a reality in Boston, a progressive priority Wu herself unsuccessfully pursued (albeit in a different permutation than Kraft proposes).
And he promised to add elected as well as appointed members to Boston’s school committee if elected — also a progressive goal, and something Wu could have done but hasn’t, even though a majority of Boston voters backed returning to an elected school committee in a nonbinding referendum.
Kraft’s policy arguments, in other words, are an eclectic blend of ideas, some of which appeal more to conservatives and moderates and others of which have a more progressive tinge. That variability, in turn, should make it easier for Kraft to form a broad coalition of supporters than if he were clearly confined to a specific ideological box.
2. His central critique of Wu is about character, not policy.
Despite vowing to conduct policy differently than Wu in those and other areas (including housing, where he claims her requirements are too restrictive), Kraft’s central argument against Wu is about the kind of person she is, rather than what she’s done or hasn’t done. As he put it Tuesday, the “heart of the problem” is that “we have a leader that just does not listen.” Instead of heeding community input, he added, including from people who see things differently than she does, Wu frequently “acts as if she alone has all the answers.”
In contrast, Kraft told the audience Tuesday, attentive listening is his default setting. It’s a safe bet that Kraft and his team tested that message before rolling it out, in focus groups and/or polling.
Still, it’s a strikingly personal argument with which to open a mayoral campaign and might elicit some pushback, not just from Wu’s staunchest supporters but from more ambivalent voters used to seeing decisiveness praised as a leadership quality when the leader happens to be a man.
3. It’s still not clear whether Kraft will keep his day job, which could raise conflict-of-interest concerns.
As of this writing, Kraft’s LinkedIn page describes him as president of the New England Patriots Foundation and notes that, historically, the Kraft family has donated “hundreds of millions of dollars” to their communities. After Tuesday’s kickoff, Kraft advisor Will Keyser said it’s an “open question” whether Kraft will keep that role as he runs for mayor or step away.
If Kraft does stay on as Patriots Foundation president, the potential will exist for him to engage in philanthropic activity that could endear him to some Boston voters. But other Boston voters might conclude that Kraft is wielding an unfair advantage as he seeks the mayoralty.
It’s somewhat surprising that this open question hasn’t been settled yet, and Kraft will have to stake out a position sooner rather than later.
4. The race will be, in part, a referendum on what it means to be a Bostonian.
Kraft grew up in Chestnut Hill, and didn’t live in Boston proper until acquiring a $2 million condo on the North End waterfront a year and a half ago. Will longtime residents of Boston hold this against Kraft? Or will the possible negative impact of his new residency be mitigated by the fact that Wu grew up in the Chicago area and came to Massachusetts to attend Harvard College? Four years ago, Annissa Essaibi George tried to cast herself as the real Bostonian in the mayoral final and lost commandingly to Wu, who’s raising a family in Roslindale.
Wu herself commented on the residency issue Tuesday during an event at Roxbury Roots Montessori. “I’m a little surprised that someone who’s never even voted for a mayor or city councilor before in Boston feels like he’s ready to lead the city,” she said. “But we will get into more of that as we go.”
The best-case scenario for Kraft is that people see him as someone who’s worked in Boston for years and has a deep attachment to the city, even though he only recently started calling it home. The worst-case scenario is that people see him as seeking to run a city he’s barely lived in.
5. Outside money is going to play a big role in this election.
During Wu’s 2021 mayoral run, which culminated in her becoming the first woman and person of color elected mayor of Boston, Wu benefited from plenty of super PAC support and welcomed their participation as long as they avoided negativity . After Kraft’s announcement, Keyser, Kraft’s advisor, said the campaign wouldn’t seek to dissuade super PACs supportive of Kraft from getting involved this time around.
In other words, the stage is set for a Boston mayoral contest that sets a new standard for super PAC involvement — with some of those dollars possibly being spent by Josh Kraft’s family members. There are limits, though, to how aggressive such family support could be: under state regulations, an immediate family member of Josh Kraft’s wouldn’t be allowed to create, run, or be the primary funder for a super PAC supporting his candidacy.
6. Keep an eye on how much of his own money Kraft spends.
In the 2021 mayoral race, Wu spent about $3.1 million compared to roughly $2.8 million for Essaibi George. Speaking to reporters after his kickoff, Kraft indicated that his strong preference is to bankroll his campaign through fundraising rather than his own wealth. But the self-funding option will be there in a way it’s not for most other candidates, and could prove too enticing to resist if the race is extremely close.
Then again, while accessing his personal wealth could conceivably give Kraft an edge in a tight contest, it could also lead some voters to accuse him of trying to buy the mayoralty — a similar but distinct dynamic to the challenge posed by his ongoing ties to the Patriots Foundation (see above).
GBH News reporter Robert Goulston contributed reporting.
