Boston Mayor Michelle Wu wins preliminary, set to face Josh Kraft in November

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu easily topped the ticket in Tuesday s preliminary and will move onto the November general referendum when she will face longtime philanthropist Josh Kraft who was trailing her by roughly points soon after polls closed Wu the popular first-term progressive mayor was so far ahead of her three challengers that the race was called for her by the Associated Press before p m Polls closed at p m Early results were in line with an Emerson College poll disclosed last week that manifested Kraft was behind Wu by points with just days to go before the preliminary electoral process As of p m Wu had roughly percent of the vote Kraft a son of the billionaire New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft had roughly of the vote The Associated Press called the second-place for Kraft before p m He and Wu will face off in November The other two candidates Robert Cappucci a retired Boston Police officer and locality activist Domingos DaRosa each had managed to secure less than of the vote according to the preliminary results available after the polls closed Wu and Kraft had yet to make it to their referendum night parties an outdoor rally for Wu in Roslindale and an event at the Ironworkers Local Hall for Kraft in South Boston by the time the race was called Kraft had yet to take the stage at his preliminary voting night party at the Ironworkers Local Hall even after the Associated Press called the race for Wu with Kraft in second A modest crowd was gathered in South Boston as music blared across speakers Supporters were mingling in an event space inside the union s headquarters which endorsed Kraft earlier this year Vincent Coyle the business manager for the South Boston-based union Ironworkers Local announced a multitude of of his members are struggling to find work and have been pushed out of the city because of high housing costs Our work here has slowed down big time A lot of the commercial building has stopped Particular housing but not a lot Coyle described the Herald shortly after addressing the crowd at Kraft s event Coyle explained a triumph for Kraft Tuesday night is as simple as moving forward There s another referendum after this he commented We want to see where the chips lie Kraft injected millions of his own personal money into the campaign and set records for spending in a Boston mayoral preliminary electoral contest Wu the city s first Asian and female leader has been bolstered in part by her defense of the city against attacks from the Trump administration Kraft whose father has had a friendly relationship with President Donald Trump in the past has also attacked the president saying at a union campaign event last month that Trump has stoked hatred and division throughout our country Kraft has pushed Wu particularly hard on housing saying she hasn t done enough to increase options and affordability In Wu advanced a proposal to cap annual rent increases for the majority units that was blocked by the state Legislature Kraft has proposed a rent control system that would allow landlords to opt in to receive a real estate tax rebate after years It would not require legislative approval Herald wire services contributed Boston mayoral candidate Josh Kraft makes a Preliminary Referendum Day appearance outside of the Cyclorama polling place Tuesday in Boston Mark Stockwell Boston Herald Voters line up at their polling place on Preliminary Electoral process Day in Boston Nancy Lane Boston Herald