Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn leaving door open for 2025 mayoral run
The opinions expressed below are Jon Keller's, not those of WBZ, CBS News or Paramount Global.
BOSTON - Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has repeatedly said she intends to seek a second term next year. But there are fresh signs of serious competition brewing.
Boston City Councilor Ed Flynn was spiking rumors of a run for mayor in early May. But in a WBZ interview Wednesday, a different tune.
"I haven't focused on it. I've focused on my job as a city councilor," said Flynn. But when asked if that meant he was leaving the door open, Flynn replied: "That's correct."
And he's not alone. Jorge Mendoza Iturralde, political novice from the North End says he's running, and better-known philanthropist Josh Kraft of the famous football family is exploring the idea.
What's going on? We asked Flynn: "Are we safer today than, say, 2021 when Mayor Wu took office?"
"The public safety and quality of life issues are significant, they are increasing, so residents don't feel like that situation is solved," he said.
Polling shows strong support for Mayor Wu
The most recent polling by the Boston Policy Institute showed strong approval of Mayor Wu, with public safety and the economy seen as positives. But, says BPI Director Greg Maynard, "people wanted to see improvements in the cost of housing, in public transportation, in public education and the city's infrastructure. The city has a lot of different issues that it's facing, and the administration is really needing to keep a lot of different balls up in the air."
"I am concerned about public safety in our schools," Flynn said. "I also am concerned about the lack of academic progress in many of our schools, the high absentee rate."
And false starts in the mayor's school building policies have surely disappointed the large majority that wants change.
To top it all off, it's a tough climate to try to be a popular pol. "In the 2021 election and then in the 2023 election we saw a lot of other mayors in Massachusetts decide not to run for re-election," notes Maynard.
Wu has tried to squash speculation about not running. But keep in mind, at this time four years ago then-Mayor Marty Walsh was fully expected to seek a third term. (He left to take a job in the Biden cabinet instead.)
And being mayor is a grueling job. It was never realistic to expect Wu to quickly deliver on all the big ideas she ran on.
So, could impatient residents decide to give someone else a try? It wouldn't be the first time.