Since launching his Boston mayoral campaign in early February, Josh Kraft has raised more than $1 million from supporters near and far who hope to see him unseat incumbent Mayor Michelle Wu.
At the end of April, Wu enjoyed an over $2 million fundraising advantage. That was before Kraft injected a reported $2 million of his own money into the campaign, quickly closing the gap, and setting off back-and-forth attacks between the rivals over their financial resources and other points of disagreement.
Campaign funding, donations and wealth appear to be core issues at play in this year’s icy mayoral contest.
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Before donating to his campaign, campaign finance reports show the Kraft operation with $151,661 cash on hand as of the end of April. Wu’s campaign had $2,207,817, a lead that has now effectively disappeared.
Up-to-date records of their campaign accounts are due this week. But available records on Monday show that both campaigns have benefited mightily from out-of-town support in the early months of the race.
Wu received more donations from Boston residents than Kraft
Since Kraft entered the race in early February, Wu has received nearly 7,000 donations. Close to 40% — or about 2,800 — were from inside the city. Together, donations from Boston residents amounted to about $360,000 (45%) of the $800,000 Wu drew after Kraft tossed his hat into the ring.
Over about the same period, Kraft received nearly 1,500 donations, 32% of which — or about 470 — came from Boston residents. Their donations represented nearly $290,000 (29%) of the $1 million he raised.
Kraft received more $1,000 donations than Wu
More than 330 people donated the maximum allowed $1,000 to Wu’s campaign between February and April, campaign finance records show. A much higher share of donors gave that amount to Kraft — more than 780 people, though he has had a fifth as many donations as Wu.
Among his top supporters include a half-dozen members of the Kraft family, including his father, Robert Kraft, the billionaire owner of the New England Patriots; Jim Davis, the chairman of New Balance who has also donated heavily to an outside group backing Kraft; Dean Spanos, chairman of the AG Spanos Companies and the Los Angeles Chargers football team; and executives at numerous other Boston area companies and organizations, including Kayem Foods, Life is Good, the Jay Cashman development company and Leader Bank.
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Wu’s top donors include JetBlue president Martin St. George; Donald Law, president of Live Nation New England; Jeffrey Leiden, chairman of Vertex Pharmaceuticals; Vikki Spruill, president and CEO of the New England Aquarium; and Jim Canales, president of the Barr Foundation. All gave $1,000 to the mayor’s campaign.
Small donation donors favored Wu
Smaller donations make up the majority of Wu’s in-city support. Of the more than 2,800 contributions she received from Bostonians since Kraft entered the race in early February, 83% were for $100 or less.
Of roughly 470 donations to Kraft from inside Boston, 11.2% were for $100 or less, records show.
Out-of-state donors gave more to Kraft
More than 150 supporters from 19 states outside Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., have sent money to the Kraft campaign, totaling about $138,000.
Wu’s donations have arrived from 38 states and the nation’s capital. Out-of-state contributions to the mayor came from nearly 550 people and totaled nearly $62,000.
The Wu campaign has attempted to paint Kraft as an out-of-towner keen on using his personal resources to secure public office.
Despite his famous father, Kraft made his career in philanthropy rather than football. He moved to Boston from Chestnut Hill in late 2023 after years of involvement in Boston’s nonprofit world, including three decades with the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston. The last 12 years he spent as its CEO.
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That hasn’t stopped the attacks.
As reports circulated last week that Kraft was injecting $2 million into his campaign account, Wu slammed her challenger for attempting to “buy the election.”
Kraft shot back.
“The power of incumbency is a real thing,” Kraft said in a Friday statement to The Boston Herald. “While Mayor Wu appears to be running her campaign out of City Hall, I have a fully staffed campaign team, including a campaign headquarters in Nubian Square.”
“While my campaign just reached the $1 million mark in donations, a modern campaign that includes a strong and robust field organization requires more resources than I can raise in such a short time frame,” he said, adding, “I have never felt more optimistic about my campaign and what lies ahead.”
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Kraft, 58, denied a repeated claim from Wu that he bought his North End condo with help from his wealthy father.
“He has voted in multiple elections as a Boston resident,” the Kraft campaign told MassLive. “And he has worked in and around the neighborhoods of Boston for 35 years ― long before Michelle Wu came to Harvard by way of one of the wealthiest suburbs of Chicago.”
Wu, 40, a Roslindale resident, was elected to the Boston City Council in 2013 and was elected mayor in 2021. Before that, she worked in Mayor Thomas Menino’s administration starting in 2010 and, according to Harvard University, the Harvard Law School WilmerHale Legal Services Center in Jamaica Plain, providing legal advice to low-income small business owners.
Political PACs
More money continues to flood the campaign as the summer approaches.
Your City, Your Future, a pro-Kraft super PAC, last week disclosed through a state filing that it was spending $1.42 million on a variety of advertising in his support, including text messages, social media and TV.
Super PACs, short for political action committee, are outside groups that can raise unlimited sums of money to support a candidate but must maintain independence from their campaigns.
Davis, of New Balance, has given $1 million to Your City, Your Future, as has Michael Rubin, the CEO of the sports company Fanatics.
In March, a pro-Wu super PAC received $100,000 from 1199 SEIU, a union representing 85,000 health care workers in Massachusetts, a week after the union endorsed Wu for reelection.
