Buoyed by her own resounding reelection victory, Mayor Michelle Wu took direct aim at Beacon Hill on Wednesday, endorsing a political newcomer running for state Senate against her political nemesis in a primary that could test the reach of Wu’s considerable political capital.
In the world of Boston politics, Wu’s endorsement of Latoya Gayle over incumbent Nick Collins of South Boston is a rare, eyebrow-raising move: backing a first-time candidate over a sitting Democrat with a long record of winning elections and one who serves on a body that determines whether many of her legislative proposals live or die.
Wu has fiercely, and publicly, clashed with Collins, primarily over her push to temporarily shift more of the city’s property tax burden onto commercial real estate to ease property tax spikes for homeowners. Collins, who has held his Senate seat since 2018, has routinely stymied her efforts, accusing Wu of “hyperbole and fear-mongering” in pushing a measure that’s repeatedly died in his chamber.
Wu on Wednesday said Gayle would be a “powerful, principled voice” in the Senate who “has stood with our families even when state legislators have not.”
She went even further at a news conference trumpeting her support, commending Gayle’s years of grass-roots advocacy work in Boston while criticizing the Senate for “offloading their elected power to unelected corporate interests to negotiate against Boston families.”
“We are tired of our own senators blocking solutions that came out of a vote of the City Council and the House of Representatives, town halls, meetings, organizing unions, faith leaders — everyone coming together to say we need relief and we need help now,” Wu added. “We’re tired of feeling like ballot initiatives are the only way to get anything to happen up there.”
Collins represents the First Suffolk District, which is anchored by Dorchester and South Boston. He is the second Democrat in the Senate to face a challenge with roots in Wu’s City Hall: Will Brownsberger, who also opposed Wu’s tax shift proposal, is being challenged by Daniel Lander, a former Wu aide.
While Wu has not yet weighed in on that race, on Wednesday she signaled she would be active in Gayle’s campaign effort and encouraged voters to rally behind her.
“This is going to be a fun election cycle,” Wu said.
Vanessa Woo, a spokesperson for Collins’s campaign, said the incumbent has built a record of fighting for Boston’s underserved populations, saying he’s addressed mental health and substance use crises and helped provide “working families tax relief,” among a series of other priorities.
“He will continue to do what he does every day,” Woo said, including “partnering with community leaders to address the challenges residents face.”
Brownsberger, meanwhile, is from Belmont but his district includes part of Boston.
“I’m just focused on serving the people in my district and making sure that people are aware of the hard work we’re doing,” Brownsberger said Wednesday. “And that’s about all I have to say.”
Wu’s decision to directly align herself against a fellow Democratic incumbent could test both her sway among city voters who overwhelmingly gave her a second term, and her standing in the State House, where she has trusted allies in the House but fraught relations with Senate leaders.
Senate President Karen Spilka declined to comment on Wu’s remarks after appearing at a Pride flag-raising event at the State House.
“I’m not here for politics,” she said.
Collins, considered a conservative Democrat in the Senate dominated by progressive voices, once weighed a run for mayor in 2021. Wu went on to win the office that fall.
A married mother of four, the 47-year-old Gayle has lived in Dorchester or the South End for more than 20 years, according to her campaign, and currently works as the senior director of advocacy and family partnerships at Neighborhood Villages, a Boston-based early education and child care nonprofit.
Wu’s entrance into the race aside, Collins appears to be operating from a position of strength. An internal poll circulated by his campaign showed that 82 percent of the roughly 800 people surveyed said they would vote for Collins in the primary election, compared to 10 percent for Gayle and 9 percent for Juwan Skeens, who is also running in the Democratic contest.
Collins also had $92,000 on hand at the end of last month — Gayle had about $15,600 at the end of April, according to her most recent filings — giving him a cash advantage in a contest where tens of thousands of dollars can be a major difference-maker.
As South Boston’s senator, he also hosts the annual St. Patrick’s Day Breakfast, one of the city’s most hallowed, if sometimes awkward, political traditions. Wu skipped the breakfast in March, prompting Collins to joke about Wu’s absence that “she found it just a little bit too taxing.”
Gayle on Wednesday said that she is “honored” to have the mayor’s support and cast Collins as prioritizing the needs of “the wealthiest residents.”
“When I talk to folks across this district, the number one thing they bring up is housing and affordability,” Gayle said. “I’m on your side.”
Wu’s endorsement could offer a much-needed boost to Gayle as she challenges Collins, an established sitting lawmaker who has served in elected office on Beacon Hill for more than 15 years.
Wu’s influence on Gayle’s campaign is already apparent. Gayle’s campaign manager, Maccon Bonner, worked for two years as Wu’s liaison to the Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Fenway, and Mission Hill until Gayle hired him this year.
Wu’s endorsement, particularly for first-time candidates, has proven powerful and influential in the past.
In the 2023 municipal election, Wu backed four new City Council candidates, all of whom won council seats that November.
In 2024, Wu endorsed longtime public defender and first-time candidate Allison Cartwright in her successful bid to be clerk of the Suffolk County Supreme Judicial Court against sitting city councilor Erin Murphy. Cartwright also had the backing of US Representative Ayanna Pressley and Attorney General Andrea Campbell, bringing an unusually high level of attention to a race typically far below the average voter’s radar.
Then last fall, as Wu easily rolled to reelection, her close allies on the council again held onto their seats by fairly wide margins with her support, including Councilor at Large Henry Santana, who was seen as the most vulnerable incumbent in last year’s election.
Kelly Garrity of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
Niki Griswold can be reached at niki.griswold@globe.com. Follow her @nikigriswold.