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, a political newcomer who is running as a Democrat, said his top priority was addressing the city’s housing crisis.