By Adam Swift
Mayor Michelle Wu officially kicked off her reelection campaign for a second term in office on Saturday.
During a speech to supporters at the Boston Center for the Arts Cyclorama in the South End, Wu highlighted her administration’s accomplishments over the past four years and addressed the recent challenges the city has faced from the Trump administration.
“Four years ago, we stood right here on election night, 2021,” said Wu. “I told you then that we would build a Boston for everyone. I told you that we don’t have to choose between the big and the small, between filling potholes and fighting to protect our neighbors, and I told you that Boston’s promise and possibility are on our shoulders right now together.
“This is our city,” she continued. “Over the past four years, I have seen Boston’s promise and possibility every day over every part of our city.”
As both a city councilor and then as a mayor, Wu said she has been fighting for people over profits and to make Boston a city that everyone can be proud of.
“I believe in the promise and possibility of Boston, because this city has given me everything that I cherish in my life, and as mayor, I promise that I will never back down from fighting for our families and our future,” Wu said. “Boston will not back down; not to kings, not to bullies, and not to naysayers who want to take us backward. Four years ago, gun violence in Boston had just hit a 10-year high.
“Every year since taking office, we’ve set new record lows and now we are the safest major city in America.”
Wu also touted efforts to increase affordable housing in the city, and major gains in climate resiliency action. She also highlighted the gains the public school system has made during her time in office.
“Four years ago, the Boston Public Schools had a revolving door of leadership and no real plans for systemic improvement,” she said. “We fought off state receivership, built a foundation for steady progress, and now we’re investing to solidify literacy and academics, update more school buildings than ever before, and serve every student according to their needs and their talents. We boosted universal pre-K and early college to the highest levels ever, and we won’t stop until the oldest school district in the country is the best.”
The mayor touted efforts to connect residents to good jobs in the city and to help local entrepreneurs open small businesses.
While highlighting the progress the city has made during her first term, Wu also talked about the challenges Boston has faced since President Trump came back into office at the beginning of the year.
“Four years ago, none of us could have imagined what these past three months have looked like,” she said. “Today, it is not just our country and democracy that is under attack, it’s communities like ours, our lives and our livelihoods, our identities, and our independence. It feels like everything that makes Boston, Boston is being threatened by the administration that is clearly threatened by who we are as a city.
“We face serious challenges in this moment, and now is not a time for a mayor who needs on the job training.”
Over the next four years, Wu said she will continue to be a mayor who will fight for Boston and the interests of its residents.
“Together, we have spent the last four years making big progress on the big challenges the city faces, and we have much more work to do,” she said. “More work to keep the city safe, more work to lower costs, more work to keep investing in our schools, combating climate change, caring for our seniors, and continuing to deliver top-notch services. It’s not easy making the greatest city on earth even better, and it’s not easy, especially in times like these; but we can, and we will, because here in Boston, we don’t back down.
“Here in Boston, we stand up, we fight, we win, and we show the world that when we work together, because we work together, anything is possible.”
Wu’s declared opponents for mayor this year include Democrat Josh Kraft, who heads Kraft Family Philanthropies, and independent community activist Domingo DaRosa.
In a statement, Kraft said Wu has taken an ideology-first, results second approach to governing that has resulted in record high rents and home prices.