BOSTON — Michelle Wu looks unstoppable in the polls — but stretch past the headlines, and Boston looks bruised.

According to a Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll, Wu holds 60% support among likely voters heading into the September preliminary — a staggering 30‑point advantage over challenger Josh Kraft.

But while she boasts that margin, the city is struggling. Rents are soaring, schools are crumbling, traffic's a mess and housing starts are at their lowest since 2011. The median price for a single‑family home just slipped over $1 million. And half the city says her signature bike lanes are making gridlock worse.

Still, Wu’s lead holds.

Why?

Because she’s better at cultivating national optics than fixing potholes.

The Globe’s own poll reveals 13% of voters say Boston’s “response to the Trump administration” is their top concern — and a whopping 86% of those voters support Wu.
Never mind that Trump isn’t on the ballot — this race has become ideological theatre.
She’s not managing a city — she’s managing her narrative.
And Boston is just background noise.

Meanwhile, back at City Hall, the scandals roll on.

Daunasia Yancey, deputy director of Wu’s taxpayer‑funded LGBTQIA2S+ office (an org created in one of America’s already most LGBTQ‑friendly cities), was arrested this spring and charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon. Yet Wu quietly gave her a 63% raise in a single year. Critics say Yancey was rewarded for ticking a woke box — while voters struggle to stay housed.

Then there’s Segun Idowu, Wu’s chief of economic opportunity and inclusion. He allegedly propositioned a young staffer — offering her a hotel room at a bar’s parking valet — but of course her office cleared him, while firing two staffers meaning Idowu keeps his six‑figure salary, despite Massachusetts, which is largely driven by Boston, ranking near the bottom for business growth in the US. Critics argue Wu hires incompetents and rewards them, then wonders why growth stalls.

Contrasted with challenger Josh Kraft, who’s threatening to pause new bike lanes, audit their impact on small firms, and offer landlords tax breaks for rent caps — Wu dismissed it as “fake rent control."

But even her own voters admit it's not about her record.
“I was very proud to say I lived in Boston,” one supporter told the Globe — citing her Trump‑shaming in Washington, not any real change here.

Bottom line: voters aren’t backing Michelle Wu.
They’re backing their dislike of Trump.
And Boston’s left paying the tab.

If this were about delivering results, it wouldn’t be close. But in 2025, optics still beat outcomes —

And Michelle Wu has that down cold.