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Michelle Wu ’07 is poised to cruise to reelection on Tuesday to serve a second term as mayor of Boston, after a first term marked by national attention and opposition to the Trump administration.
Wu, running unopposed, has received 90.7 percent of the vote with 34.2 percent of votes accounted for. Polls closed at 8 p.m.
Wu was the only name on the ticket after she dominated the September preliminary election, winning more than 70 percent of the vote. Philanthropist Josh Kraft, Wu’s main challenger, won only 23 percent. While both were set to advance to the general election as the two top performers in the preliminary vote, Kraft suspended his campaign three days after the preliminary election.
Wu remains just as popular as she was in 2021, when she made history as the first woman and person of color to serve as Boston’s mayor. She is the first Harvard College alum to serve as Boston mayor in a century. Throughout her second campaign, Wu received endorsements from Senators Elizabeth A. Warren (D-Mass.), Ed J. Markey (D-Mass.), and Representative Ayanna S. Pressley (D-Mass.).
But her second mayoral victory looks much different than her first. Wu now leads a city under fire from the federal government, including a lawsuit from the Department of Justice for its sanctuary city policies. The September lawsuit targets the Boston Trust Act, which prohibits police from working with ICE on civil immigration enforcement efforts — including prohibiting police officers from asking about immigration status, sharing information with ICE, or “performing the functions of an immigration officer.”
Boston’s immigration policies first drew national attention in March, when Wu testified before Congress on the city’s sanctuary policies. Wu faced harsh questioning from Republican members of the House Oversight Committee. But the mayor staunchly defended Boston as the safest major city in the country, maintaining that the Boston Trust Act encourages cooperation between the city’s immigrant population and law enforcement officials.
The Trump administration has doubled down on its immigration policies since her testimony. The federal government launched a new surge of immigration enforcement in September called Operation Patriot 2.0, days after the DOJ lawsuit was filed.
The administration also threatened to take over South Station in early September, a suggestion that Wu strongly rebuked.
“This is not a game of authoritarian monopoly,” Wu said in a statement to reporters after Trump threatened a takeover. “This is a government with laws and a constitution that clearly shows who is in control of what.”
President Donald Trump also suggested in mid-October that he could relocate the FIFA World Cup out of Boston, if he feels there are “unsafe conditions” in the city.
“I love the people of Boston, I know the games are sold out. But your mayor is not good,” Trump told reporters, adding that Wu is “intelligent, but she’s radical left.”
Wu criticized the Trump administration at her election night party in Seaport on Tuesday, specifically citing legal fire from the White House.
“We won’t just see you in court,” Wu said. “We’ll show you what it looks like when government actually functions.”
Wu, a frequent Trump critic, has spent her re-election campaign touting her past achievements as mayor, including numerous housing affordability initiatives, the expansion of universal pre-K, and a plummeting crime rate.
Despite her widespread popularity, Wu has faced pushback on local issues. Kraft’s campaign targeted Wu’s expansion of the city’s bike network and accused her administration of stalling housing construction by slowing the permitting process for developers. Residents and parks advocates have also criticized Wu’s multimillion-dollar plans to rehabilitate White Stadium, a $200 million project.
Wu has spent the last leg of her campaign supporting her close political allies running for Boston city council. Wu has said that City Council President Ruthzee Louijeune, first-term councilor Henry Santana, and challenger Alexandra E. Valdez gained her votes in the September preliminary at-large election.
Wu has been a particularly vocal supporter of Santana, who may be the most vulnerable candidate in the race. He finished fourth in the preliminary race with former Boston city councilor and Wu critic Frank Baker only two points behind him. Baker has been the top fundraiser in the race, raising more than $300,000 this year.
Santana’s fellow incumbents — Louijeune, Julia Mejia, and Erin Murphy — finished in the top three in the preliminary race. There are eight total candidates for the at-large race, and the top four will earn council seats.
—Staff writer Megan L. Blonigen can be reached at megan.blonigen@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @MeganBlonigen.
