Plenty of mud is already flying in this year’s mayoral race between incumbent Democrat Michelle Wu and Josh Kraft, the nonprofit executive seen as her chief rival. The candidates are going after each other over everything from major policy issues to personal finances.
So what’s true and what’s false? Globe reporters are breaking down attacks big and small in this (non-exhaustive!) list. We’ll keep this page updated as the race continues.
See any questionable claims you want us to fact-check? Let us know by filling out the form below, or send us an email.
Is Boston really “the safest major city in America”?
Wu has embraced this moniker on the campaign trail, particularly as she beats back attacks from the Trump administration over the city’s immigration policies. It’s part of her emphasis on public safety this campaign — a notable difference from her messaging four years ago.
Kraft disagrees. He has called attention to specific cases of violence in the city and wrote a Substack post in May entitled “Michelle Wu’s Not-So-True Crime Story.”
So, what do the numbers show?
It’s true that, since Wu took office in November 2021, Boston has seen a dramatic decline in some of the most concerning types of violent crime. Homicides here hit a record low last year, from 56 in 2020 to just 24 in 2024. That followed a national trend: Many US cities saw similar declines after a temporary surge in violent crime during the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, there is no single, universally agreed-upon way to define the country’s “safest city,” experts say. There were other American cities that had lower homicide rates last year, including some with comparable or bigger populations, such as San Diego, San Jose, and El Paso, according to data from the firm Real-Time Crime Index, which updates monthly with statistics from local police departments as well as the FBI. There were also cities with lower overall violent crime rates in 2023, the most recent year for which comprehensive data is available, the index showed. Among US cities in the index with populations greater than 500,000, several ranked lower than Boston for violent crime rates in 2023, including Fort Worth and the Las Vegas metropolitan area.
“Boston is probably not the ‘safest’ big city in America,” said Jeff Asher, the co-founder of AH Datalytics, which maintains the index. Asher cautioned that it is difficult to compare data across cities, but noted, “Boston is among the safer cities in America, based on reported crime rates. … It is on the safer side.”
James Alan Fox, a criminologist at Northeastern University, said that trend has been relatively consistent over time, thanks in part to the state’s strict gun laws and top hospitals. On homicide data, “we’re not always number one lowest, but we’re always on the low end, as is our state,” Fox said.
Who — or what — is to blame for low housing production in Boston?
It is a difficult reality for Wu: Production of new housing has fallen sharply over the past two years, with less new construction beginning in 2023 and 2024 than in any year since 2011.
Prior to 2023, housing production in Boston held relatively steady over the course of a decade, with construction starting on an average of 4,247 units annually between 2013 and 2022, according to city data. In 2023, the city only started 2,358 units. In 2024, that number was 2,389.
The more difficult question to answer is why, exactly, the production of new homes has dropped so precipitously.
Kraft blames Wu for the production slowdown, specifically saying the problem lies with Wu’s affordable housing requirements. These rules mandate developers set aside 17 percent of the units in new market-rate developments for affordable housing, plus an additional 3 percent for housing voucher holders.
Echoing complaints from developers, Kraft has said the policy makes projects too expensive, and has left many permitted developments struggling to make the numbers work.
But it is not that simple.
During Wu’s tenure as mayor, there have been broad shifts in the economics of homebuilding driven by inflation and other economic changes that have made development far more expensive than it was a few years ago. Construction materials are more than 40 percent more expensive than they were in 2020. Interest rates have shot up. Even the price of equity, which developers need to finance their projects, has soared.
As Boston University economist Adam Guren put it: “There has been very little development under Mayor Wu, but she’s been dealt a horrible hand.”
And while Wu administration officials say they are doing all they can to get development moving again, including creating a $110 million Housing Accelerator fund to help fill financing gaps for stuck projects, they are prioritizing efforts that will create more homes for lower- and middle-income families.
How much will it cost to renovate White Stadium?
It’s become one of the biggest flashpoints in the mayor’s race: Wu’s plan to renovate White Stadium in Franklin Park to house not only Boston’s new professional women’s soccer team but also Boston Public Schools athletes. The mayor argues the project presents a rare opportunity to provide BPS students with a state-of-the-art facility, funded by a public-private partnership. Kraft has rebuked her for putting substantial public funding into the effort.
The Wu administration has not recently shared a detailed cost estimate, but it’s true that the city’s share of the cost for the reconstruction has grown since Wu first pitched the project. From the initial estimate of $50 million, the cost has jumped to more than $90 million, according to the latest figures city officials have shared publicly.
In June, Kraft claimed that overhauling the stadium will actually cost the city around $170 million, citing a figure he said he had heard from City Hall insiders.
Wu said on the radio, “that is not a real number, that is not the real cost.” She said Kraft may have drawn the figure from an internal “disaster planning” projection for how much the project could cost the city, but called it “an absolute worst-case scenario.” While costs could still rise, she said, it is “highly, highly unlikely” that the price tag for the city will reach $170 million.
Is Josh Kraft new to Boston? Has he ever voted here?
It’s a common attack line from Wu: Kraft is new to Boston and doesn’t understand its needs. “I welcome Josh Kraft to the city,” Wu said in February when he launched his campaign.
As far as his actual legal address, Kraft grew up in nearby Chestnut Hill, a wealthy suburb, and acknowledges that he has lived most of his life outside Boston city limits. He lived in the North End briefly in the early 1990s. More recently, he moved to the waterfront in the North End in fall 2023.
While it’s true that Kraft moved to the city in fall 2023, he spent decades working with communities here as the longtime head of the Boys and Girls Club of Boston, experience he touts on the campaign trail. Kraft says his work with city youth taught him important lessons about community needs.
Kraft registered to vote as a Democrat in Boston in October 2023. Wu often attacks him by saying he is running for the mayor’s office even though he has never voted for the office of Boston mayor.
Kraft’s campaign has called Wu’s attacks dishonest. “Josh’s voting record is clear, he has voted in multiple elections as a Boston resident,” the campaign said in May.
However, Kraft has not voted for either Boston mayor or Boston City Council during his time living in the city.
Since moving to Boston and registering to vote in fall 2023, Kraft has voted three times in Boston, elections department records show: in the Democratic presidential primary in March 2024, in the state Democratic primary in September 2024, and in the general election in November 2024.
Who paid for Josh Kraft’s condo in the North End?
The waterfront condominium in the North End where Kraft now lives with his partner was purchased in October 2023 by an LLC called “Two BW Boston LLC,” public records show. The Delaware LLC lists its address as Patriots Place in Foxborough, home to the football team owned by Kraft’s billionaire father.
Wu’s campaign has leapt on that link. Her campaign said in May, “most Bostonians don’t have a billionaire father to buy them a condo so they can move in to run for an office they’ve never voted for.”
Kraft’s campaign called that attack dishonest: “Josh purchased his Boston home with his own money” and he is the “sole owner” of the LLC. Kraft’s campaign has not provided documents showing who was behind the purchase or supporting his claim that he owns it outright.
Niki Griswold and Dan Glaun of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Emma Platoff can be reached at emma.platoff@globe.com. Follow her @emmaplatoff. Andrew Brinker can be reached at andrew.brinker@globe.com. Follow him @andrewnbrinker.