Josh Kraft
Josh Kraft is running for election for Mayor of Boston in Massachusetts. He is on the ballot in the primary on September 9, 2025.[source]
Biography
Kraft earned a bachelor's degree from Williams College in 1989 and a master’s in education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Kraft is the head of Kraft Family Philanthropies, former CEO of the Boys & Girls Club in Boston, former President of the New England Patriots Foundation, and the son of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.[1][2]
2025 battleground election
Ballotpedia identified the September 9, primary election as a battleground race. The summary below is from our coverage of this election, found here.
Four candidates are running in the nonpartisan primary election for mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, on September 9, 2025. The top two vote-getters will advance to the general election on November 4, 2025.
Incumbent Michelle Wu was first elected in 2021, when she defeated Annissa Essaibi George 64%-35.6%. It has been 76 years since an incumbent mayor lost a bid for re-election in Boston. The last to do so was James Michael Curley in 1949.[3][4]
Two candidates, Wu and Josh Kraft, lead in media attention and campaign fundraising.[5] Robert Cappucci and Domingos DaRosa are also running. While mayoral elections in Boston are nonpartisan, Wu, Kraft, and Cappucci all wrote that they were Democrats on their Organization Statements filed with the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance.[6][7][8] DaRosa did not write a partisan affiliation.[9]
Wu was previously a member of the Boston City Council. She also worked for former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.[10] Wu is running on her record. Her campaign website says, "Since taking office, she has invested more in making housing affordable than any other administration in Boston’s history. In her first full year as mayor, gun violence fell to the lowest level on record—and has continued to fall every year since. She promised a summer job to every BPS student who wanted one—and delivered, and has expanded Universal Pre-K to serve more children and families than ever before."[11] U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D), U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D), and U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D) have endorsed Wu.[12]
Kraft is the head of Kraft Family Philanthropies, former CEO of the Boys & Girls Club in Boston, former president of the New England Patriots Foundation, and the son of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.[13][14] Kraft's campaign website says, "I love this city, but I have serious concerns about its future and many issues need attention. Lack of access to housing that regular people can afford, which is forcing many people to leave the city. Boston Public Schools that are failing our kids and families. Poorly planned bike and bus lanes that are changing our neighborhood streets and creating gridlock all across the city. The humanitarian crisis and public safety concerns at Mass and Cass need to be addressed."[15] The International Longshoremen’s Association has endorsed Kraft.[16]
On May 15, a coalition of the city's Democratic Ward Committees hosted a candidate forum. Wu, Kraft, and DaRosa all participated.[17][18] During the forum, candidates spoke about housing, public transportation, public safety, the city's fiscal health, and the mayor's role in responding to the policies of the Trump Administration. Click here to watch the forum.
While Wu and Kraft have both said they oppose the Trump Administration's immigration policies, they differ on several other issues, including housing, transportation, and the renovation of Boston's White Stadium.
Wu said her administration has created more than 11,000 housing units, including 5,400 affordable units, with another 4,000 affordable units in progress, and implemented new affordability requirements.[17] Kraft has said he would reverse the Wu administration requirements, which he says are blocking the construction of 26,000 housing units, increase the number of Boston residents who qualify for income-restricted housing units, and create an opt-in rent control plan that would include property tax breaks for participating landlords.[19][4]
Wu has said she would prioritize reducing dependence on cars. Wu has highlighted her record on public transportation, including working with the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority to eliminate slow zones, as well as increasing ridership with fare-free bus lines, installing speed humps, and using technology to reduce congestion.[11] Kraft has said he wouldn't prioritize reducing dependence on cars and instead would focus on fixing roads and sidewalks, as well as temporarily pause bike lane construction to conduct an audit on the efficiency of proposed bike lanes.[20]
Another topic generating media attention that the candidates differ on is the renovation of Boston's White Stadium. Wu had led the city's effort to renovate the stadium, saying calling it an investment "into Black and Brown communities, into our students, and into the Boston Public Schools." Wu has also promoted an agreement between the city and Boston Legacy FC, a new professional women's soccer team, to share use of the stadium.[21] Kraft has criticized the stadium renovation as too expensive, said he would cancel the contract with the soccer team, and create a new plan for the stadium "at a fraction of the cost."[21]
The filing deadline for this election was May 20, 2025.
Elections
2025
See also: Mayoral election in Boston, Massachusetts (2025)
General election
The primary will occur on September 9, 2025. The general election will occur on November 4, 2025. General election candidates will be added here following the primary.
Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Mayor of Boston
Incumbent Michelle Wu, Robert Cappucci, Domingos DaRosa, and Josh Kraft are running in the primary for Mayor of Boston on September 9, 2025.
Candidate | ||
 | Michelle Wu (Nonpartisan) | |
 | Robert Cappucci (Nonpartisan) | |
 | Domingos DaRosa (Nonpartisan) | |
 | Josh Kraft (Nonpartisan) | |
| ||||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
Do you want a spreadsheet of this type of data? Contact our sales team. | ||||
Polls
- See also: Ballotpedia's approach to covering polls
We provide results for polls that are included in polling aggregation from FiveThirtyEight and RealClearPolitics, when available. No polls were available for this election. To notify us of polls published in this election, please email us.
Election campaign finance
Candidates in this election submitted campaign finance reports to the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance. Click here to access those reports.
Satellite spending
- See also: Satellite spending
Satellite spending describes political spending not controlled by candidates or their campaigns; that is, any political expenditures made by groups or individuals that are not directly affiliated with a candidate. This includes spending by political party committees, super PACs, trade associations, and 501(c)(4) nonprofit groups.[22][23][24]
If available, this section includes links to online resources tracking satellite spending in this election. To notify us of a resource to add, email us.
Endorsements
Ballotpedia is gathering information about candidate endorsements. To send us an endorsement, click here.
Campaign themes
2025
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Josh Kraft has not yet completed Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey. Send a message to Josh Kraft asking him to fill out the survey. If you are Josh Kraft, click here to fill out Ballotpedia's 2025 Candidate Connection survey.
Who fills out Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey?
Any candidate running for elected office, at any level, can complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Survey. Completing the survey will update the candidate's Ballotpedia profile, letting voters know who they are and what they stand for. More than 22,000 candidates have taken Ballotpedia's candidate survey since we launched it in 2015. Learn more about the survey here.
You can ask Josh Kraft to fill out this survey by using the buttons below or emailing info@joshforboston.com.
See also
2025 Elections
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ NBC Boston, "Your guide to the 2025 Boston mayoral election," August 15, 2025
- ↑ Josh Kraft 2025 campaign website, "About Josh Kraft,' accessed August 27, 2025
- ↑ CBS News, "Keller: Wu looks to play "Trump card" against Kraft, who has an uphill climb in the polls," July 30, 2025
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Boston.com, "Mayoral race primer: What to know about the issues that divide Wu and Kraft," April 8, 2025
- ↑ Welcome to the Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance, "Mayoral Depository Year-to-Date Reports," accessed August 26, 2025
- ↑ Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance, "Michelle Wu Candidate Committee Organization Statement," accessed August 28, 2025
- ↑ Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance, "Josh Kraft Candidate Committee Organization Statement," accessed August 28, 2025
- ↑ Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance, "Robert Cappucci Candidate Committee Organization Statement," accessed August 28, 2025
- ↑ Massachusetts Office of Campaign and Political Finance, "Domingos DaRosa Candidate Committee Organization Statement," accessed August 28, 2025
- ↑ Washington Post, "Michelle Wu makes history as first person of color and woman to be elected Boston mayor," November 3, 2021
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Michelle Wu 2025 campaign website, "Meet Michelle," accessed August 27, 2025
- ↑ Michelle Wu 2025 campaign website, "Endorsements," accessed August 27, 2025
- ↑ NBC Boston, "Your guide to the 2025 Boston mayoral election," August 15, 2025
- ↑ Josh Kraft 2025 campaign website, "About Josh Kraft,' accessed August 27, 2025
- ↑ Josh Kraft 2025 campaign website, 'Josh Kraft on Policy," accessed August 27, 2025
- ↑ Boston Herald, "Josh Kraft scores first major endorsement in his bid for Boston mayor," March 19, 2025
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 YouTube, "Boston Democratic Ward Coalition 2025 Mayoral Debate," May 15, 2025
- ↑ Boston.com, "Boston mayoral race: 5 takeaways from the first candidate forum as Wu and Kraft meet onstage," May 19, 2025
- ↑ Josh Kraft 2025 campaign website, "Housing Access & Affordability Plan," accessed August 27, 2025
- ↑ Josh Kraft, 'Josh’s Plan to Improve a Transportation System Stuck in the Past for a City Ready to Move Forward," accessed August 27, 2025
- ↑ 21.0 21.1 MassLive, "White Stadium has taken over Boston’s mayoral race. Here’s what the candidates have to say," August 18, 2025
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Outside Spending," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ OpenSecrets.org, "Total Outside Spending by Election Cycle, All Groups," accessed December 12, 2021
- ↑ National Review.com, "Why the Media Hate Super PACs," December 12, 2021
| |||||||||
