Dem
47
GOP
53
Just a brief update to an item we had earlier this week, about the "nonpartisan" mayoral primary in Boston. In that one, incumbent mayor Michelle Wu (D) trounced the competition, outpacing "nonpartisan" Democrat Josh Kraft by 50 points, despite his spending millions of his family's money on his campaign. Wu also leveled "nonpartisan" Democrat Domingos DaRosa and "nonpartisan" Republican Robert Cappucci, by almost 70 points. This result means that only Wu and Kraft will appear on the general election ballot.
However, although people can still vote for Kraft in November, he's not actually running anymore. Yesterday, he dropped out of the race, and threw his support behind Wu. "We could spend the next eight weeks politicking-with harmful rhetoric or nasty attack ads," he explained. "Or we could get back to what really matters—the issues that impact Bostonians each and every day. The work I have focused on for my whole career." Kraft added that he felt this was the right decision "during a time in America where we need to come closer together despite all our differences, instead of igniting divisiveness that pulls us further apart."
The implication here is that the murder of Charlie Kirk, and the torrent of nastiness thereafter, is what caused Kraft to bow out. Maybe that's true. Or maybe he wants to cultivate a reputation as a good guy/team player, so as to be in a better position to pursue future political opportunities. Or maybe he doesn't want the embarrassment of getting steamrolled a second time. Whatever it is, he's out.
So, Wu's path to another term is about as clear as it could possibly be. We almost can't imagine what she might do to go off the rails in the next 11 weeks. Maybe if she announced that she's not actually a Red Sox fan and she really prefers the Yankees, and also that she's never particularly cared for Cheers, clam chowder, or Irish people. But absent that, she'll be around to be a thorn in Donald Trump's side for the rest of his term. (Z)