Josh Kraft, son of the billionaire New England Patriots proprietor and head of the household’s philanthropic arm, has filed paperwork to run for mayor of Boston.
Kraft, president of the New England Patriots Basis, has fashioned a marketing campaign committee with the state Workplace of Marketing campaign and Political Finance. The submitting is his first official transfer towards becoming a member of the race and difficult Mayor Michelle Wu.
“Today’s filing was a necessary first step towards an official announcement, which will come soon, where Josh will lay out his vision and ideas for turning Boston around,” Eileen O’Connor, a spokesperson for Kraft and accomplice at Keyser Public Methods, stated on Monday.
The newly organized Kraft Committee lists Allison Murray, a accomplice at Windfall-based agency CFO Compliance, as his marketing campaign chair and treasurer; the North Finish rental he bought in October 2023 as his tackle; and his occasion affiliation as a Democrat, however doesn’t reveal a lot else.
It exhibits that he filed paperwork to kind his marketing campaign account final Friday, and that it was organized on Monday, per week after sources confirmed to the Herald that Kraft, 57, was planning to leap into the race, following months of hypothesis.
Kraft, per sources, plans to make an official announcement in early February. The election is subsequent fall.
Political observers have pointed to quite a few elements that would make Kraft a formidable opponent to Wu, 40, however he’ll face an uphill climb in Boston, the place no incumbent mayor has misplaced since 1949.
Wu, a well-liked progressive, has $1.7 million in her marketing campaign warfare chest, in accordance with the Workplace of Marketing campaign and Political Finance, already has endorsements from a number of labor unions together with the 2 largest metropolis employee unions, and has recurrently touted Boston because the “safest major city in the country,” given its record-low murder price.
She gave delivery to her third baby earlier this month and has stated she plans to run for reelection.
Kraft, the son of the billionaire New England Patriots proprietor Robert Kraft, could have near-unlimited funds to spend within the race.
He additionally has extra title recognition than many different first-time candidates and ties to the neighborhood by his roughly 30-year stint with the Boys and Ladies Golf equipment of Boston, 12 years of which was spent as president and CEO. He’s board chair of the City League of Massachusetts, which is predicated in Roxbury.
Political observers anticipate Kraft to capitalize on the perceived vulnerabilities of Mayor Wu on the marketing campaign path. His path was additionally cleared to run after Metropolis Councilor Ed Flynn, who has been a vocal critic of lots of Wu’s key priorities this previous yr, opted to go on the mayor’s race and run for reelection.
Wu has struggled to push her bid to lift business tax charges to supply aid for householders by the Legislature, the place it has stalled twice already. She has additionally encountered heavy resistance to her public-private plan to redevelop Franklin Park’s White Stadium for knowledgeable ladies’s soccer workforce — a challenge that’s costing taxpayers $100 million and counting and is the topic of a lawsuit.
Different perceived vulnerabilities focus on faculty closures and the town’s housing affordability disaster. The mayor, nevertheless, has made inexpensive housing a precedence throughout her first time period, and not too long ago acquired approval from the Metropolis Council for a $110 million housing accelerator fund to jumpstart stalled development initiatives.
Some political observers see Kraft’s previous connections and contributions to Republican candidates, alongside together with his father’s longtime connection to President Donald Trump, as potential vulnerabilities in a “Democratic stronghold” like Boston. The 2 elements have been included in a ballot testing how he would fare towards Wu that circulated this previous summer time.
He additionally only recently moved to Boston, having bought a North Finish rental in October 2023 for $2.5 million, after having lived in Chestnut Hill, in accordance with the Suffolk Registry of Deeds.
O’Connor stated Kraft lives in Boston “and his North End home is his primary residence.”
Mayor Wu, when requested about Kraft’s candidacy on GBH’s Boston Public Radio, stated she has not spoken to the philanthopist about his plans to run towards her nor has she seen him at many public occasions, and took a swipe on the manner his marketing campaign announcement has been dealt with to date.
“At some point, when you’re the candidate, you’re going to have to speak for yourself and not just have the consultants do it for you, and be clear about what you’re putting forward,” Wu stated.
Wu received the 2021 mayoral election with 64% of the vote after spending eight years on the Metropolis Council, together with a stint as council president. She stated the 12 years she’s spent serving the town “in a public capacity” replicate a candidate who is aware of the town and the problems that affect residents.
“I’ll see how things unfold,” Wu stated. “Knowing this city, knowing how much residents care about every little issue, whether it’s a parking garage or a zoning plan or a tax bill, Boston residents expect you to know what’s happening, to have clear positions, to be able to get right in there and very clearly explain how you’re going to get things done and how you’re going to make life better.”
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