By Jackson Chadwick | Photo by Dale Cruse
Amid much speculation, Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu is launching a mayoral campaign, current Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced on Monday. Wu, an at-large member of the Council, was elected in 2013 and succeeded John Connolly, who lost to Walsh in the 2013 mayoral election.
She served as the Council’s President from 2016-2017 and is a graduate of Harvard University and the Harvard Law School. If elected, Wu would be the first woman and Asian-American mayor of Boston.
Wu hasn’t officially announced her bid for mayor, but instead informed Mayor Walsh over the phone on Sunday; Walsh then informed the media. His decision to announce another candidate’s historic bid for Mayor has been met with uneasiness and anger on social media platforms such as Twitter.
Speculation arose as early as last year when many pundits and papers saw her as a possible contender for mayor. An article published in The Atlantic last year, written by Rachael Allen, described Wu as being an effective leader:
“Wu has emerged as one of the city’s most effective and diplomatic politicians. She has negotiated with the mayor on issues such as government transparency, short-term-housing-rental regulations, and green energy, earning a reputation for both hyper-detailed policy work and humility in the face of a prideful city.
She has been compared to the likes of Congresswomen Ayanna Pressley and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as well as Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren. Wu is known for her prominent opposition to MBTA’s fare increases and has called for a “fare-free transit system,” an idea also supported by Senator Ed Markey, who won his primary against Congressman Joe Kennedy III last week.
It is unclear if Walsh, who has served since 2014, will seek a third term in office. If Walsh were to run and lose as the incumbent, he would be the first Boston mayor to be unseated in nearly three-quarters of a century.