Kraft eyes February for a campaign launch

Jan 21, 2025

(ALMOST) OFF TO THE RACES — New England Patriots Foundation President Josh Kraft is in — almost.

Kraft has decided to launch a bid for mayor in Boston, according to two people who have spoken with him recently, and is eyeing early February for an official announcement. A spokesperson for Kraft declined to comment.

Kraft advisors were spotted looking at office spaces in Nubian Square to serve as a home for the campaign, according to one of the people. Kraft already has some ties to the Roxbury neighborhood: the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts, where Kraft serves as board chair, is headquartered there.

Kraft has been weighing a challenge to Boston Mayor Michelle Wu for months, but Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn’s decision to forgo his own bid for the seat his father, Ray Flynn, once held cleared the lane for the philanthropist and political newcomer.

Taking on Wu in the election this fall will be no small feat. Wu has kept her political operation sharp since she took office, while racking up wins first in the 2023 council races and then in the Suffolk County Supreme Judicial Court clerk’s race last fall.

And she has the power of incumbency in a city that hasn’t ousted an incumbent in decades. She also already has endorsements from a handful of unions, including Laborers’ Local 223, Unite Here Local 26, SEIU Local 888 and AFSCME Council 93 — and $1.7 million in her campaign coffers at the end of last month.

But City Hall watchers expect Kraft, the son of billionaire business mogul and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, could have access to near unlimited funds. And unlike most first-time candidates, he already has some name recognition — both among Patriots fans and as a philanthropist and former head of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston (plus as a potential mayoral candidate since 2023).

And Wu is currently mired in a few battles that Kraft could try to wield on the campaign trail: pending school closures, a costly overhaul of White Stadium that’s drawn a few very vocal critics and a lawsuit, her recent struggle to push her property tax shift bill through Beacon Hill (now headed for a round two) and harrumphing from developers unhappy with Wu’s way of doing business in the city.

GOOD TUESDAY MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. Tips, scoops, running for something? Email me: kgarrity@politico.com.

TODAY — Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll make an announcement about higher education funding at 11 a.m. in Bridgewater. Driscoll speaks at Lynn Mayor Jared Nicholson's State of the City at 6 p.m. in Lynn. Attorney General Andrea Campbell keynotes the Mass. Political Women's Caucus annual meeting at 5:30 p.m. Sen. Ed Markey hosts “The Massachusetts Response to Trump's Inauguration" at 6. p.m.; Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Ayanna Pressley attend.

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FROM TRUMP'S INAUGURATION

THE RETURN — Donald Trump officially returned to the White House yesterday in a packed day he capped off by signing dozens of Executive Orders before heading out for inauguration receptions.

It didn’t take long before he drew backlash from the Bay State. At Boston’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day breakfast, speakers couldn’t avoid connecting the day's celebration of MLK with the celebration happening in Washington.

Among them: Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Sen. Ed Markey, who both decided not to attend the inauguration in D.C.

Gov. Maura Healey, meanwhile, repeated the line she’s been leaning on lately: “I've been clear, though, with the people of Massachusetts. … I will do all I can to work with the new federal administration where it benefits the people of Massachusetts, and I've also said that we will not change who we are here in the state,” she told reporters on her way out of the breakfast.

Pressley later gathered advocates from Planned Parenthood League of Massachusetts, Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition and Boston’s Office of Immigrant Advancement to talk about what to expect in Washington — and to lay out their resistance message.

The event, Pressley told the crowd, was “about reminding us all that regardless of who sits behind the desk in the Oval Office or who holds the gavel in Congress, the power to enact transformative change has always resided in the people.”

But it wasn’t all worry in the Bay State and beyond. Republicans in New England celebrated Trump’s once unlikely return to power, per WBUR, and the Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance lauded Trump’s EO pumping the brakes on offshore wind development, calling it “a good first step” while urging further restrictions.

Lawsuits over some of Trump’s EO’s are already underway. Lawyers for Civil Rights, La Colaborativa and the Brazilian Worker Center joined together to file a lawsuit in response to Trump’s order seeking to end birthright citizenship, while Attorney General Andrea Campbell pointed out that it’s a right contained in the Constitution.

More legal battles could be coming soon: Campbell said her office “will be reviewing this flood of executive orders and stand ready to defend the law and protect the people of Massachusetts,” in a post on X.

Related reads:

ICYMI: You can catch up on the play-by-play with POLITICO’s liveblog or check out more Inauguration Day coverage here.

— “'The darkest inaugural address ever': Mass. congressional delegation reacts to Trump's speech,” by Adam Reilly, GBH News: “When U.S. Representative Seth Moulton of Salem attended President Donald Trump’s first inaugural address back in 2017, he thought Trump’s reference to building new railways signaled a possible point of bipartisan collaboration with the new administration. Fast forward eight years, and Moulton says he heard nothing comparably hopeful in Trump’s second inaugural address. Moulton contends the second speech painted an even grimmer picture than the first, notwithstanding the first speech’s memorable references to an ‘American carnage.’”

— “Trump pardons 1,500 involved in Jan. 6 riot, likely including those from Mass.,” by Jesús Marrero Suárez, WBUR: “President Trump has pardoned and commuted the sentences of approximately 1,500 people convicted of crimes committed during the Jan. 6 insurrection, making good on a campaign promise and stunning legal observers. … While names of those pardoned were not immediately released, the sweeping Day 1 clemency likely applies to some if not all of the 55 New Englanders who were among those that stormed the U.S. Capitol in 2021. Some were convicted earlier of attacking Capitol police.”

— “Massachusetts AG Andrea Campbell looking to boost budget to battle Trump,” by Gayla Cawley, Boston Herald: “Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell said she plans to ask the state Legislature for additional funding this budget season in anticipation of legal battles with President Donald Trump’s incoming administration. The funds would be used to beef up staffing, Campbell, a Democrat, told the Herald Monday at an unrelated event held around the same time Trump, a Republican, was sworn in as president for a second term. The amount the attorney general plans to request has not yet been determined, according to her office.”

— “AGs urge Congress to protect Inflation Reduction Act,” by Christian M. Wade, The Eagle-Tribune.

— “Mass. Latino divisions on Trump: Some see threats, others promise, in his presidency,” by Simón Rios, WBUR.

— “Just ‘arrest the illegals’? It’s not that simple, Mass. sheriffs say,” by Susannah Sudborough, MassLive.

— ‘A great comeback story’: Valley residents celebrate Trump’s return to White House on Inauguration Day,” by Samuel Gelinas, Daily Hampshire Gazette.

DATELINE BEACON HILL

THE MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR QUESTION — Massachusetts won’t be on the hook for the full $2.5 billion that was still hanging over its head after it erroneously paid out $2.5 billion in pandemic-era unemployment benefits using federal rather than state funds back in 2020, before Healey was governor.

The state struck a last-minute deal with the U.S. Department of Labor to pay $2.1 billion over 10 years. The total owed after fees and interest would’ve been closer to $3 billion, according to Healey's administration.

In announcing the deal, Healey leveled some of her most direct criticism at her predecessor, saying it was “incredibly frustrating that the prior administration allowed this to happen,” while calling for changes to the UI system. More from the Boston Globe.

— “Mass. has a primary care physician shortage. A new law aims to help fill it with internationally trained doctors,” by Maren Halpin, The Boston Globe: “Many internationally trained doctors immigrate to Massachusetts but are forced to work in lower-level jobs, even as the state faces a growing shortage of primary care physicians and psychiatrists. A newly passed law is looking to address both issues. The measure creates a track for internationally trained physicians who practiced medicine in other countries to be able to learn Massachusetts’ medical standards through apprenticeships as they pursue full state licensure. In exchange, they must commit to working in underserved communities for two years.”

DAY IN COURT

— “Two years ago, the multiple-rape case against a State Street executive made headlines in Boston. Now, it’s in danger of completely falling apart,” by Sean Cotter, The Boston Globe: “The arrest of a State Street executive two and a half years ago sent shockwaves across Boston’s banking community: Ivan Cheung was accused of committing four rapes at knifepoint two decades ago, two of them involving underage sex workers. Now the case is in jeopardy of falling apart. Prosecutors claim in court filings that, in spite of what they believe is strong evidence, they cannot support the most solid charges against Cheung because of legal technicalities. And for the charges that they can bring, the evidence is likely too weak to uphold their claims.”

FROM THE 413

— “Garcia Suits up to Seek Second Term as Mayor of Holyoke,” by Matt Szafranski, Western Mass Politics & Insight: “The political season in Holyoke formally launched Thursday with Mayor Joshua Garcia’s announcement that he will seek a second full four-year term. Garcia made history in 2021 when he became the city’s first leader of Puerto Rican heritage of the city. Holyoke has one of the largest such communities in the continental United States. However historic, he neither won his first election nor is seeking reelection on identity.”

THE LOCAL ANGLE

— “A busy weekend for Mitchell at mayors’ conference,” by Grace Ferguson, The New Bedford Light.

— “Peabody police working to regain accreditation after lapse,” by Caroline Enos, The Salem News: “The city’s police department has lost its accreditation from the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission. But it is in good standing otherwise and on its way to gaining the status back, according to the organization. The department did not properly file documentation of compliance with all new procedures and policies of the nonprofit MPAC, an optional accreditation program for police departments in the state.”

HEARD ‘ROUND THE BUBBLAH

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — to Molly Trowbridge, Jeremy Jacobs and Diego Sanchez, a Massachusetts Democratic State Committee member and Barney Frank alum.

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