Vote today! Michelle Wu leading in race for Boston's mayorship

MICHELLE WU CAMPAIGN

U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., right, campaigns for City Councilor Michelle Wu,
who is running to become Boston's mayor.

Boston's next mayor may be an Asian American woman reflecting the changing political landscape of the historical city.

Michelle Wu, a city councilwoman, has been running for Mayor for almost a year and of the polls are any indication, the chances are good that she'll be one of the two mayoral candidates vying for the city's top post on Nov. 2.

Wu, who has the endorsement of Sen. Elizabeth Warren leads the polls with the other candidates -- Acting Mayor Kim Janey, City Councilors Andrea Campbell and Annissa Essaibi George, and former city economic development chief John Barros. -- hoping to capture the second spot.

The election is nonpartisan so the finalists could very well be of the same party in the city that is heavily Democratic.

"Growing up, I never thought I would run for office one day. As the daughter of immigrants, I understood from my youngest days how my family and so many others feel unseen and unheard in our society," said Wu in a statement.

“I recognize the ways in which I’m not the typical mold of a Boston politician, but it’s really not just gender and ethnicity or age necessarily, although [it’s] all of those things,” she said.

Find your polling place, here.

Last Saturday, a rally with Warren was held in Chinatown, the neighborhood is where Wu first began volunteering and community organizing in Boston nearly two decades ago.

“If there was ever a moment when we needed to organize, to fight, to stand up to tackle impossible odds, it is right now. We are facing an ongoing public health crisis and a climate crisis and a displacement crisis. But this is a city, and a community, that stands up to fight," said Wu. 

Boston's Asian American population makes up 10% of the city's residents; White, 53%; Blacks, 25%; and Hispanic, 20%. 

"After eight years in the City Council, ten years in City Hall, we have seen the power we have to make that change at the local level. I’m so grateful to Senator Elizabeth Warren for being in this fight with me, and know that together, we will take on the big challenges to meet this incredibly important moment,” said Wu.

“I believe in Michelle because I know Michelle. I’ve known Michelle since she was my student, since she had the courage to step up and run for City Council. I’ve known her as a partner in the fight for childcare, more affordable housing and a Boston that works for working people," said Warren.

“We need more working parents in leadership roles. It makes a difference when moms are in charge, and for me, being a mom and raising two boys in this moment in our city and in our country’s history gives me an urgency to make sure that we’re getting things done,” Wu told Yahoo News. “You put a Boston public school mom in charge [of] our city, and we will see changes to match the scale and urgency of our community’s needs.”

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