The outlandish Boston mayor’s race polls were actually right
Pre-election polls showing Boston mayoral candidate Josh Kraft lagging well behind Mayor Michelle Wu proved prescient in the city's preliminary election Tuesday.
Wu took the top spot Tuesday with 72% of the vote, compared to Kraft's 23.1%, according to unofficial tallies. The result was remarkably close to that of an Emerson College poll published last week, which showed Wu leading Kraft 72% to 22%, a 50-percentage-point margin.
That poll showed an even higher margin than one conducted by the Boston Globe and Suffolk University in July, which showed Wu with a 30-point advantage .
Both candidates will move on to the general election on Nov. 4, when voters will ultimately decide who will lead Boston for the next four years.
Kraft told supporters Tuesday night that he was "still in this race" despite the distance he had to make up.
"We know the road ahead is not going to be easy. But neither is life in Boston right now for too many families," he said.
He said he would review the election results with his campaign team on Wednesday before gearing up for the final two months of the race.
Last month, Kraft said he would be happy losing to Wu by a margin of 15 percentage points in the preliminary election, MassLive previously reported.
Asked by a reporter on Tuesday night how he could win in November given the results, Kraft said, "Just keep working, grinding, sweat equity, never quit."
Wu, on the other hand, appeared very satisfied with the results. At a press conference in front of City Hall Wednesday morning, she said the overwhelming support was an indicator that what her administration has done in her first term has been well-received.
"Across every ward, voters affirmed that the Boston we're building is the Boston that we want to build," Wu said. "We know that there's a lot more work to do and over the next several weeks, our campaign will double down on getting to every door, getting to every community and every voter in Boston, every resident, to keep having these conversations."
Kraft, the son of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and former head of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, moved to the city's North End from Chestnut Hill in 2023 and registered to vote in Boston.
He kicked off his first campaign for public office by accusing Wu of ignoring the input of Boston's residents and businesses. His attacks since then have covered a wide variety of issues , including housing, public safety and drug use at Mass. and Cass, the redevelopment of White Stadium and bus and bike lanes.
MassLive reporter Will Katcher contributed additional reporting to this story.
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