Good morning, and congrats on making it halfway through the week. Today we’re looking at the ideological differences that could determine this year’s race for mayor of Boston. But first, here are today’s top news stories:
- President Trump thinks the US should take ownership of the Gaza Strip, turn it into “the Riviera of the Middle East,” and send its 1.8 million Palestinian residents to live somewhere else.
- CIA Director John Ratcliffe extended the government’s buyout offer to his entire agency. Meanwhile, USAID staff around the world will be placed on leave Friday and ordered to return to the US.
- The ACLU has sued over a Trump executive order that restricts minors’ access to gender transition care, claiming that Boston Children’s Hospital canceled appointments as a result.
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TODAY’S STARTING POINT
This year’s race for Boston mayor has the makings of an ideological showdown. Josh Kraft, the longtime nonprofit leader and son of billionaire Patriots owner Robert, seems poised to run as a more moderate, business-friendly Democrat against Mayor Michelle Wu, a first-term progressive.
It’s true that Kraft’s policy proposals span the political spectrum. “This campaign is not about ideology, it’s about getting results,” he said while announcing his candidacy in Dorchester yesterday. But his references to his work outside of government and collaboration with business owners, his accusation that Wu is overspending, and his claim that he wants to conserve voters’ “hard-earned tax dollars” were pretty big hints.
Wu, by contrast, won four years ago on a raft of progressive policy goals, including a municipal-level Green New Deal, rent control, free bus service, and raising property taxes on commercial real estate. She’s the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, a Harvard-educated lawyer, and a protégé of Senator Elizabeth Warren, as well as the first woman and person of color elected to lead the city.
If Kraft does run as a more moderate alternative, his strategy will fit a national pattern. In recent years, moderate Democrats have won high-profile mayoral races in major US cities. Today’s newsletter explains why Kraft may fit that mold — even as his bid to unseat Wu could fall short.
A five-year pattern
Since 2020, mayoral moderates have been on a winning streak, including in New England. Like Kraft, some come from wealth (Kraft’s father is worth $11.8 billion) or are political outsiders. Consider this list:
- In 2021, New Yorkers elected Eric Adams, a former police captain who pledged to tackle crime.
- In 2022, Brett Smiley, a relative moderate, became mayor of Providence after vowing to address housing and public safety.
- In 2023, a Democrat who favored forcibly removing homeless people and said he wanted to make the City Council more conservative won in Portland, Maine.
- Last November, San Franciscans ousted their incumbent mayor, London Breed, in favor of Daniel Lurie, a centrist businessman and heir to a large fortune.
- Portland, Oregon also elected a businessman, Keith Wilson, who campaigned against crime and homelessness.
- Moderate Democrats have also clinched mayoral races in Houston and Philadelphia, and came close to winning in Los Angeles and Chicago.
The reason for this electoral success is straightforward: The country became more conservative during Joe Biden’s presidency. In last fall’s election, Trump’s support increased from 2020 in almost every Massachusetts community. Nationally, even liberal cities have swung right, sometimes turning against progressive ideas on illegal immigration, homelessness, crime, and education.
Kraft appears to be angling to run on similar issues. In his speech yesterday, he faulted Wu for her handling of housing, public transit, and public education (although neither Kraft nor his children attended Boston Public Schools).
‘An uphill fight’
But even if Kraft campaigns in the style of other moderate mayoral candidates, there are a few reasons to think he may struggle to replicate their success.
Ideology. Boston has been an exception to the recent centrist victory parade. It elected Wu in a 28-point landslide in 2021. Like most politicians, Wu has had successes (like lower violent crime rates and the city’s youth summer jobs program) and setbacks (like her property tax plan and BPS). But unlike other liberal mayors, polls taken within the past year suggest she remains relatively popular.
Incumbency. Incumbent mayors are hard to dislodge, particularly in Boston. The last to lose re-election was James Michael Curley in 1949. (The fact that he’d served time in federal prison probably played a role.)
A murky political history. Kraft donated to Wu in 2021 and supported Kamala Harris last November. But he has also voted for Republicans and given money to some who oppose gay marriage and abortion rights. (A spokesperson told the Globe that Kraft, who is Jewish, gave to them “singularly because of their strong public support for Israel.”)
“ Voters know the name Kraft, but they don’t know Josh Kraft,” Mary Anne Marsh, a Democratic strategist, told me. “And they certainly don’t know him as a candidate.”
The national mood. Trump and the Republicans, not Biden and the Democrats, now control Washington. Trump’s 2016 win quickly sparked a backlash, fueling liberal and progressive victories around the country. The chaos of the last two weeks makes another backlash seem likely.
Kraft may also have to navigate his own family’s ties to Trump, a decades-long friend of his father. Kraft, who says he never supported the president, yesterday asked voters “to set aside any ideas they might have about me based on my last name.”
What’s next?
Kraft understands the difficulty of what he’s attempting. “I enter this race as an underdog, and I know this is going to be an uphill fight,” he told supporters. “But I’m excited for the challenge.”
Wu, who is expected to seek re-election, has likewise hinted at how she may run against Kraft, who registered to vote in Boston less than two years ago and recently moved from Chestnut Hill to the North End. “I welcome Josh Kraft to the city,” she said in a statement yesterday.
Read more:
- Kraft has led the Boys & Girls Club of Boston and chairs the board of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, a civil rights organization in Roxbury. My colleague Emma Platoff recently profiled him.
- Some Black voters have soured on Wu. Kraft hopes to win them over, columnist Shirley Leung explains.
- Kraft has embraced some more progressive positions, like calling for rent control and elected members on the school committee. Here’s more from his announcement.
- From “strengths most challengers lack” to “maybe?,” Globe Opinion writers debate Kraft’s chances.
POINTS OF INTEREST
Boston and New England
- Be prepared: State officials are asking department heads to identify steps to “protect” the state if the Trump administration tries to freeze federal funding again.
- Music to somebody’s ears: A 1714 Stradivarius violin that the New England Conservatory is putting up for auction could become most expensive music instrument ever sold. (AP)
- Lobsters in trouble: A board that regulates the lobster industry gave in to angry Maine lobstermen and repealed a rule designed to conserve dwindling lobster populations. (Portland Press Herald)
The Nation
- FBI lawsuit: Agents who investigated Trump or the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters are suing the Justice Department to stop it from releasing the names of FBI agents involved in the sensitive cases. (CBS News)
- Nominees update: The Senate approved Pam Bondi as attorney general. (Politico) The controversial nominations of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for health secretary and Tulsi Gabbard to lead intelligence will go before the full Senate after Republican holdouts caved to Trump.
- Crash recovery: Investigators have retrieved the remains of all 67 victims of the plane crash in D.C. last week. (Fox 5 DC)
- Build back better: Maryland officials unveiled plans for a taller, more stable bridge to replace the one that collapsed after a ship struck it last year. (Baltimore Banner)
- Missing monarchs: The number of monarch butterflies that spend the winter in the western US has dropped precipitously. Culprits include heat and a lack of milkweed plants. (AP)
- A pay raise might work: Faced with a dearth of teachers, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg school district in North Carolina is subsidizing their rent and will build its own housing. (The 19th)
The World
- Mass killing: A shooting at an adult education center in Sweden killed at least 11 people, including the gunman, in what officials said was the country’s worst mass shooting. (AP)
- Facing his attacker: Author Salman Rushdie will take the witness stand in the trial of the man accused of stabbing him 33 times on stage in upstate New York in 2022. (The Times of London)
BESIDE THE POINT
📸 Scenes from a life: In her moody series “Pestka,” a Polish photographer captures 11 years in the life that she made with the daughter she raised alone.
😋 Winter Soup Club: Sign up here for the Globe’s cozy newsletter for anyone who loves to make (and eat) soup.
📽️ At the Somerville Theatre: Nearly a century after it premiered, a silent movie with an all-Black cast still exhilarated our critic.
🧙🏽 Holding space: Harvard’s Hasty Pudding club will honor “Wicked” star Cynthia Erivo as its 2025 Woman of the Year today with a parade and a roast.
🏒 Thin ice: With the playoffs looming, Kevin Paul Dupont says it’s time for the Bruins to put up or shut up.
💔 Heartbreak: A teenager’s first can feel enormous. Parents can help.
🧛♀️ She’s back: “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” may get a Hulu reboot.
🪦 Epilogue: The Aga Khan became the spiritual leader of the world’s millions of Ismaili Muslims while still a Harvard undergraduate. He died at 88.
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Ian Prasad Philbrick can be reached at ian.philbrick@globe.com.