Whereas there’s been loads of hypothesis about who could problem Boston Mayor Michelle Wu in 2025, the 2 potential contenders topic to probably the most political chatter are remaining mum about whether or not they plan to leap into the race.
Metropolis Councilor Ed Flynn, a U.S. navy veteran and son of former Mayor Ray Flynn, stated he’s nonetheless weighing his choices, and philanthropist Josh Kraft, the son of the billionaire New England Patriots proprietor Robert Kraft, will not be at the moment a candidate, a spokesperson stated.
“The speculation has been going on for a while,” Eileen O’Connor of Keyser Public Methods, the political consulting agency working with Kraft, stated in a Friday assertion to the Herald. “Nothing has changed.”
“Josh is not currently a candidate and has no plans or timeline for any kind of announcement,” O’Connor added.
Kraft, the top of his household’s philanthropic arm, has been rumored to be a mayoral candidate for months. In Might, O’Connor offered a press release from Kraft, the place he stated he was “looking at a lot of things” and had “nothing to report.”
Flynn, the Metropolis Council president final time period, stated in early Might that he was not planning to run for mayor, however backed off that stance later that month, saying that he wouldn’t rule it out.
On Sunday, he provided an analogous evaluation, and batted away a rumor that he was planning to announce a mayoral bid at his Sept. 17 fundraiser reception, saying that it’s typical for metropolis councilors to host related occasions.
“I’m going to consider it, consider my options, and how I can be helpful to the residents of Boston,” Flynn informed the Herald. “But there will be absolutely no announcement there (on the 17th).”
Flynn added that he thinks it’s “too early” for him to “engage in campaigns,” saying that he has “a lot of work to do on the City Council and providing positive leadership.”
His marketing campaign conflict chest at the moment stands at $787,075, far exceeding the town councilor with the second-highest fund, Council President Ruthzee Louijeune, who has $107,597 money readily available, per the Workplace of Marketing campaign and Political Finance.
As of now, Jorge Mendoza-Iturralde, a North Finish restaurateur clashing with the mayor and Metropolis Corridor over outside eating restrictions, is the one candidate who has introduced plans to problem Wu in 2025.
Mendoza-Iturralde introduced his mayoral bid in late Might, however has not but arrange an official marketing campaign fund with the Workplace of Marketing campaign and Political Finance, which is required of political candidates.
He informed the Herald Sunday that he plans to take action within the coming months, including that he can’t pull papers to run for mayor till April, which he nonetheless plans to do.
“We are having the conversation with all the right people, but we haven’t got anything started yet,” Mendoza-Iturralde stated. “It’s a very long campaign so we’re not there yet.”
Mendoza-Iturralde stated he’s registered as an Impartial voter, whereas Flynn is a average Democrat and Kraft is alleged to have progressive views, however has a historical past of supporting and donating to Republican politicians.
The political consulting agency Kraft is working with has a bipartisan record of previous and current clientele, together with former Republican Gov. Charlie Baker and Senate President Karen Spilka, a Democrat.
Mayor Wu, the primary girl and individual of coloration to be elected mayor, is a progressive Democrat. Whereas she hasn’t formally launched her bid for a second time period, she acknowledged her intention to run in July, when asserting she was pregnant together with her third little one.
“If anything, I feel even more motivated to make sure that the work that’s needed across the city, for families who are juggling so much, gets done,” Wu informed the Herald on the time. “I plan to run for reelection, although I’ll make an official campaign launch announcement later. But this hasn’t changed my plans.”
Political insiders are break up on whether or not Wu, who has amassed a marketing campaign conflict chest of roughly $1.5 million, is weak within the 2025 election.
An incumbent Boston mayor hasn’t been defeated since 1949, and Brian Jencunas, a political guide, doesn’t see that streak altering subsequent 12 months. He cited the Hub’s standing as arguably the “safest big city in America” the place “property values continue to skyrocket,” when chatting with the Herald in July when a ballot testing how Kraft would fare towards Wu in a possible mayoral matchup was circulating.
A distinct political insider who requested anonymity sees Wu as weak, nonetheless, to a possible candidate of coloration who’s prepared to run “center-left” or a candidate with identify recognition and sources.
In July, that political insider stated the mayor has didn’t construct strong relationships and connections with neighborhood members who didn’t assist to place her in workplace, pointing to pushback Wu has acquired from communities of coloration on proposals like shifting the O’Bryant faculty, which failed, and her plan to renovate White Stadium to accommodate knowledgeable girls’s soccer staff, which led to a lawsuit by neighbors.
