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Moderators challenged Boston mayoral candidate Josh Kraft on the feasibility of his proposals for issues, including housing and pest control, during a Wednesday panel with Mayor Michelle Wu ’07.

The panel — jointly hosted by NBC10, Embrace Boston, and the Black Economic Council of Massachusetts — asked similar sets of questions to both candidates, who presented similar answers about immigration, housing, and pest control.

But Kraft faced some pushback from moderators, who asked for clarification on the details of his administration’s potential plans.

When Kraft touted his ideas for housing initiatives, he shared his plan for opt-in rent control — where a landlord can commit to keeping rent at minimal increases over 10 years in exchange for a 20 percent tax rebate at the end of each year — as well as a fund to “help relieve displacement, find other places for residents, or make sure displacement does not happen.”

But his answer faced a follow-up from NBC10 Boston anchor Latoyia Edwards, who pressed Kraft for clarification on how he planned to fund his initiatives.

“First and foremost, where would that money for the fund come from?” Edwards asked.

She also pointed out that Kraft has no prior experience, and asked him to provide specific numbers on his goals for new affordable housing units.

“You don’t have a record just yet on this conversation,” she added. “If you were to be elected, what's your benchmark?”

Kraft answered that he would aim to create 12,000 new units — compared to the 7,700 built by the current administration. Meanwhile, Wu highlighted various housing initiatives she implemented, such as the Co-Purchasing Housing Pilot Program, which allows households to pool their resources to purchase multifamily homes.

Despite these initiatives, Wu gave herself an “incomplete” grade when asked about her progress on housing affordability.

“If I felt like our work was done, I maybe wouldn’t be putting myself forward to ensure that we keep going for four years,” Wu said.

Wu, who touted a 30-point lead over Kraft in a July Suffolk University poll, has been praised for her defense of the city in the face of attacks from the Trump administration. She honed in on Boston’s sanctuary city policy during the panel, saying the city was not unilaterally “legally required” to cooperate with the federal government.

“What the Trump administration is trying to do now is to go beyond what they’re legally able to do and to say that police officers, city officials have to actually be pulled in to do their jobs for them,” Wu said, echoing past messages on Boston’s decreasing crime rates.

Kraft also condemned Trump’s immigration agenda, calling deportations in Boston “outrageous.”

The candidates will face off against two others — former Boston police officer Robert Cappucci and community organizer Domingos DaRosa — in the primary election on September 9, and the top two polling candidates will advance to the general election on November 4.

Correction: September 5, 2025

A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Black Economic Council of Massachusetts president and CEO Nicole Obi pressed Boston mayoral candidate Josh Kraft on how he would fund his housing proposals. In fact, NBC10 Latoyia Edwards asked the questions included in this article.

—Staff writer Megan L. Blonigen can be reached at megan.blonigen@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X at @MeganBlonigen.

—Staff writer Ann E. Gombiner can be reached at annie.gombiner@thecrimson.com.