Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu this morning took to Twitter to announce her run for mayor.
Her candidacy has long been speculated .
“Boston should be a city for everyone,” Wu said in an interview with GBH News Tuesday. “We have the resources, the activism, the ideas. We just need bold, urgent leadership. And that has to come from every community in the city.”
“We can build wealth in all our communities, value public education, plan for our neighborhoods, invest in housing we can afford and transportation that serves everyone, truly fund public health for safety and healing and deliver on a city Green New Deal for clean air and water, healthy homes and the brightest future for our children,” Wu said in a statement, according to MassLive.
Wu will take on incumbent Marty Walsh.
AsAsAmNews previously reported, Michelle Wu supports a Green New Deal to fight climate change and to create green jobs.
“The climate impacts that Boston faces range from what we see on a regular basis now with flooding during storms that can take out all of Morrissey Boulevard and king tides that flow so that the T stations downtown are unusable for months,” Wu said. “We’ve been hit by storms. We’ve been hit by heat. These are all issues that seem like they’re, you know, a national or international problem, but in fact, cities can lead the way.”
According to GBH, the race could be competitive although Boston voters overwhelming elected Walsh to a second term by a 2 to 1 margin. Other potential challengers to Walsh could be City Councilor Andrea Campbell who has collected a nice campaign war chest.
Walsh also has not officially declared his candidacy for a third term and is seen as a possible cabinet member if Joe Biden is elected President.
“We need to get through COVID-19, save lives, rebuild our economy, broaden equality, further improve our quality of life, and elect Joe Biden and Kamala Harris,” he said to GBH. That’s my to-do list, and I want to keep everyone in Boston focused on that mission. And when we do, next year and for the next four years, my administration will have a strong partnership with new leadership in the White House. I have great respect for Councilor Wu’s commitment to Boston and I look forward to our conversations about how to move our city forward.”
Michelle Wu has built a progressive agenda and has advocated for paid parental leave, free bus service and for a ban on facial surveillance. She also unsuccessfully pushed for less funding for police services and for moving that money to education or social services.
If elected, she would be the first Asian American and first person of color to become mayor of Boston.
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