Boston Mayor Michelle Wu dismissed assertions from her newly announced opponent Josh Kraft that she’s a leader who “does not listen” and is disconnected from community concerns, while hitting back by portraying him as a carpetbagger.

In 2022, Brett Smiley, a relative moderate, became mayor of Providence after vowing to address housing and public safety. In 2023, a Democrat who favored forcibly removing homeless people and said he wanted to make the City Council more conservative won in Portland, Maine.

Josh Kraft, the son of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, formally launched his campaign for mayor of Boston on Tuesday.