Michelle Wu Elected as Boston Mayor
On November 8, 2021, the city of Boston made history by electing Michelle Wu as mayor, the first woman and person of color to be elected for this leadership role.
Michelle Wu was born in Chicago in 1985 and is the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants. After graduating from high school in Chicago, she moved to Boston for college and law school. She considered herself as a protégé of Senator Elizabeth Warren in the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and worked on the latter’s re-election campaign in 2012. Wu was elected to the Boston City Council in 2013, 2015, 2017, and 2019. In 2021, she decided to not run for the fifth time and instead ran for Mayor, a position vacated by incumbent Mayor Marty Walsh’s move to Washington DC to join President Biden’s cabinet as Secretary of Labor.
Wu was endorsed by senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey, and congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, a member of the “squad” of young and progressive women in Congress. Her background resonated with Boston’s demographic changes. Residents who identify as white dropped to 44.6% of the population. African American, Asian American, and Latinx residents jointly form the majority. Most of Michelle’s opponents were also from minority backgrounds, including the other front-runner, Essaibi George, who is of Polish and Tunisian Arab Muslim descent.
Wu made aggressive, populist, progressive campaign promises. In the backdrop of soaring housing costs, she promised to pursue rent stabilization or rent control. Another key campaign promise was to have a “fare-free” public transport system. Both of these promises could face hurdles to implementation. Some are concerned about the successful 1994 Massachusetts ballot question that banned rent control statewide. Public transit fees are under the control of the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, not the Mayor’s office. Wu also campaigned for the Green New Deal for coastal Boston.
Michelle’s record in the Boston City Council included a public battle with Airbnb which accused her of driving a 90-day annual cap for home-sharing. She fought back on social media and enhanced her reputation by standing her ground. She was also the lead sponsor for parental leave for city employees for the first time.
“Business as usual has been failing Bostonians and Covid-19 has exposed deep inequities across our city,“ Wu said when she announced her bid for Mayor.
Wu was sworn into office on November 18, 2021. Her priorities include dealing with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and a range of related economic issues from fixing potholes on streets to improving classrooms at city-run schools. However, her honeymoon period ended almost immediately due to a string of crimes that required her to lead from the front and help the constituents of Boston.
by Anika Basu