Joshua Kraft Set to Launch Boston Mayoral Campaign

Joshua Kraft, son of billionaire New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, has officially filed to run for mayor of Boston against incumbent Michelle Wu ‘07, who has served in the role since Nov. 2021.

Kraft is president of the New England Patriots Foundation, a non-profit established by his family that supports youth and family aid programs, and is a longtime philanthropist in Boston. He previously spent 30 years with the social services organization the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, 12 of which were as president and CEO.

Kraft is now the chair of the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, a civil rights group based in Roxbury. He is also an alumni of Harvard’s Graduate School of Education, meaning this year’s mayoral race may pit two Harvard graduates against each other.

Kraft formed his campaign committee, filed with the Office of Campaign and Political Finance on Jan. 24. He is working with CFO Compliance, a firm in Providence that works with candidates and political action committees in New England. Allison Murray, a partner at the firm, is named on the form as Kraft’s campaign committee chair and treasurer.

Kraft, who has received criticism for appearing to only recently buy a home in Boston to enable his mayoral run, has no past political experience. Multiple outlets have reported that he plans to announce his campaign in early February, while experts have estimated his campaign would need to raise millions to oust Wu from the race.

With reports from earlier this month that Boston city councilor Edward M. Flynn has decided not to run, the race for now appears to be a direct fight between Wu and Kraft. Though the mayor has publicly expressed her plans to run for re-election, she has not yet officially launched her campaign.

Wu has served as a city councilor and then mayor in city hall for over a decade, where she has been the first Asian American woman to serve both roles. She will also be entering the race as the first mayor in the history of the city to give birth while in office —which she did just two weeks ago this month, to a baby girl.

Amid the heat of the race — and a request to testify before Congress over Boston’s immigration policy — Wu has said she will not be taking maternity leave.

Wu’s tenure so far has seen several political controversies over school mergers and closures, attempts to rein in housing costs through tax measures and restrictions on rent increases that have been blocked by the state legislature, and the continued redefining of the city’s streetscape with bus and bike lanes.

Housing, transportation, and the discontents of business leaders with Wu are all likely to feature prominently in the race. Several of the policies that Wu campaigned on in 2021, including “freeing the T” and imposing rent control, have not yet made it to a reality as she nears the end of her term.

—Staff writer Megan L. Blonigen can be reached at megan.blonigen@thecrimson.com.