3 big things to think about ahead of Boston’s preliminary election | Bay State Briefing

Good Monday morning, everyone.

In just about 24 hours, and if they haven’t already done so, a subset of voters across the state’s largest city will cast their votes in Boston’s preliminary election.

This will bring down the curtain on the first phase of the mayoral race between Democrats Michelle Wu (the incumbent) and her main challenger, Josh Kraft, in a campaign that has seemingly been about everything — and nothing — at the same time.

Kraft, the son of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and a longtime Boston-area philanthropist, has taken Wu to task on issues ranging from the reconstruction of White Stadium in Dorchester and the prevalence of bike lanes across the city to matters of public safety and the Boston Public Schools.

Wu, a former member of the Boston City Council who is seeking her second term, has sought to portray Kraft, a political newcomer, as a son of privilege who’s out of touch with the needs of city voters.

Money has poured into the race, as super PACs supporting both candidates have blitzed the airwaves and voters’ devices with attack advertisements.

Kraft also has dug deep into his pockets to finance his campaign, outraising Wu, who nonetheless had a healthier balance in her campaign account heading into the race’s final weekend.

While much of the attention has focused on Kraft and Wu, two more Democratic hopefuls, Domingos DaRosa and Robert Cappucci, also will be on Tuesday’s mayoral ballot.

With that in mind, here are three things to think about heading into Tuesday.

The result is largely baked in … but …

Unless a Buffy-style Hellmouth opens under City Hall or Kraft gets anthem by a comet sometime between immediately and Tuesday, almost no one is operating under the impression that the two Democratic candidates aren’t going to face each other again in November.

This has essentially robbed the eight-month campaign between the two of a good degree of drama. The problem is both structural and political.

Unlike a partisan primary, where one candidate wins their event’s nomination and another gets a one-way ticket to Palookaville, Boston’s nonpartisan electoral system effectively guarantees that the biggest and best candidates each will advance to the November election.

And in this instance, both will be Democrats, who mostly agree with each other, and when they do disagree, their differences are largely in the margins — the lightning rod issue of housing being a notable exception.

A primary election that results in a Democrat and a Republican winning their respective event nominations, however, would likely yield some clear distinctions heading into the November general election campaign.

But this is Boston. You’d have an easier time locating the Bruins’ playoff chances than a viable GOP candidate.

Here’s that but …

An Emerson College poll released late last week showed Wu with a staggering 50-point advantage (72% to 22%) over Kraft.

Wu has held a significant polling lead throughout the campaign. But last week’s result is even more expansive than the 30-point advantage she held in a Boston Globe/ Suffolk University poll in July.

That will make the final numbers on Tuesday worth noting.

During a news conference at City Hall two weeks ago, Kraft said a 15-point vote margin with Wu “would be a great number,” a candid acknowledgment of his own underdog status.

By any objective measure, a 15-point defeat is a drubbing.

But with the polling numbers being what they are, and especially after the Emerson data, a 15-point vote margin for Kraft is a warning shot to Wu heading into the November general election campaign season.

And if that means anything at all, it means that an already prickly campaign will get polished to a razor’s edge as the leaves start to fall.

The undercard

Yes, there’s a fight for the Mayor’s Office, but the races for City Council are nothing to sleep on either.

Just two seats on the 13-member City Council are uncontested this year. Incumbent District 3 Councilor John FitzGerald and District 8 Councilor Sharon Durkan are both running unopposed for reelection.

There are 10 candidates for the four at-large council seats, of which eight will move on from the Sept. 9 preliminary election to the Nov. 4 general election.

Council President Ruthzee Louijeune and fellow incumbent Councilors-At-Large Erin Murphy, Julia Mejia, and Henry Santana are running for reelection. The other at-large candidates are Frank Baker, Yves Mary Jean, Marvin Mathelier, Rachel Miselman, Will Onuoha, and Alexandra Valdez.

For district councilor seats, five of the nine races will have preliminary elections, from which two candidates will move on to the November general election.

The largest field of candidates is for the District 7 office, left vacant in July when former Councilor Tania Fernandes Anderson resigned after pleading guilty to federal corruption charges.

Thirteen candidates are vying to replace her: Said Abdikarim, Mavrick Afonso, Said Ahmed, Wawa Bell, Tchad Cort, Miniard Culpepper, Samuel Hurtado, Natalie Juba-Sutherland, Jerome King, Shawn Nelson and Roy Owens.

The polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

If you’re registered to vote, you can check for your local polling place by entering your address on the Secretary of State’s website.

Stick with MassLive throughout the day on Tuesday for coverage of Boston’s races and the other preliminary elections across the state.

New car, caviar, four-star day dream — and the Guv’s race

Money, as Pink Floyd famously noted, can purchase you plenty of stuff. But the Corner Office? Well, it certainly doesn’t hurt.

Republican 2026 gubernatorial candidate Mike Kennealy’s campaign released its new fundraising haul last week, noting that the onetime Baker administration aide raised $245,000 in August, leaving him with $917,089 on hand.

Kennealy’s filing with the state’s Office of Campaign and Political Finance showed him with $226,896 in receipts by month’s end.

A spokesperson for Kennealy, who was GOP Gov. Charlie Baker’s housing czar, said the roughly $18,000 difference was attributable to credit card donations that were “still in transit,” and would be “reflected in the coming days.”

Kennealy’s rival for the GOP nomination, Brian Shortsleeve, also a former Baker-ite (MBTA boss in this case), reported raising $119,141 last month, ending August with a $570,481 balance in his campaign account, state filings showed.

Democratic Gov. Maura Healey, who’s seeking a second term, reported $157,404 in total receipts in August, according to state filings. But the Arlington Democrat was still sitting on $3.8 million by month’s end, giving her a comfortable financial edge.

‘We will not be intimidated’: Mass. Rep. Pressley slams Trump’s Boston lawsuit

In case there was any doubt, U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley is definitely, absolutely, positively not a fan of the Trump administration lawsuit challenging Boston’s immigration policies.

“Boston is a safe, vibrant and welcoming city. We will not be intimidated by this administration’s illegal scare tactics, and we will not back down as they continue terrorizing our communities,” Pressley, D-7th District, said last week.

In case you missed it, the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Massachusetts, challenges the city’s decade-old Trust Act, which prohibits Boston police officers from arresting, holding or transferring people to ICE when their only crime is a civil immigration offense.

Mayor Michelle Wu has called the suit filed by U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi an “unconstitutional attack,” and said the city will “vigorously defend” the ordinance.

Pressley, whose district sprawls across most of the city, dismissed the lawsuit as a political stunt.

“Nothing the Trump administration has done since taking office has been about public safety. From the militarization of our cities, to abducting our neighbors off the street, to sham, baseless lawsuits like this one — it has always been about sowing fear, punishing dissent, and tearing apart hardworking immigrant families,” she said.

“In Boston, we take care of our neighbors, and we do not back down. I am glad we have a clear and steady mayor at the helm who is working with community leaders and peace advocates to mitigate trauma and protect everyone who calls Boston home,” Pressley concluded.

They said it

“I call on every one of my Republican colleagues — join me, join my Democratic colleagues, the multitude of medical associations, health care providers, nine former CDC directors, over a thousand current and former HHS employees, and demand the resignation of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.”

— U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., joins the bipartisan pile on over U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his policies. Arguing that Kennedy is “endangering the lives of every American family.” Markey made his remarks during a news conference in Dorchester last week.

Read more MassLive politics coverage

Thousands of Mass. voters could be turned away at the polls in November unless this law changes

Mayor Wu vows to defend Boston’s ‘sanctuary city’ law after feds sue

Despite being tabled, Holyoke proposal about its sanctuary city status faces protest

Record number of delegates, dissent expected at Dems’ Springfield convention

Trump says higher ed is too liberal. Tufts launched a center to tackle that issue

Ignoring feds, Healey says Mass. will ensure access to vaccines. What you need to know

Tax relief, rent control, Beacon Hill transparency: 2026 ballot Qs clear a key hurdle

What goes on

If September means the return of the Big E, then the return of the Big E means the Budweiser Clydesdales are returning to West Springfield for another year.

The iconic corporate pitch horses will be making multiple appearances at the Big E this year, organizers said in an email.

That notably includes a Sept. 12 check presentation to the military-leaning charity Folds of Honor at 5:30 p.m. at the Storrowtown Gazebo, followed by the opening day parade at 6 p.m. that will, of course, feature the Clydesdales.

The horses’ appearance at the Big E is part of a nationwide tour celebrating the 15th anniversary of the partnership between Budweiser and Folds of Honor, a nonprofit organization that provides educational scholarships to families of fallen or disabled U.S. service members and first responders.

Turned up to 11

Albanian-born English pop star Dua Lipa plays two nights at TD Garden on Tuesday (Sept. 9) and Wednesday (Sept. 10). You can find tickets and more info here.

With a deep well of hits from which to choose, the chances are excellent that no fan will leave the Garden disappointed this week. Here’s a personal favorite. It’s “Don’t Start immediately.” Once again, the bass groove is undeniable.

Your Monday long read

You might have noticed by immediately that President Donald Trump seems to have it in for wind energy projects in the northeast and beyond.

But why?

Over at The Weekly Dish, veteran commentator Andrew Sullivan takes a whack at it, writing in a piece dripping with double-entendre, “Why Is The President Breaking Wind?”

As is so often the case with Trump, the reasons are both random and deeply personal.

Here’s the germane bit:

“In the debate about how authoritarian Trump is, his sheer arbitrariness is underrated. There are countless petty examples, but one stands out for sheer tenacious perversity: wind power and other renewable energy. There are plenty of reasonable arguments about how best to generate power and reduce carbon, the mix of sources, the pace of transition, etc. I’ve long favored an all-of-the-above approach while we transition to non-carbon fuel; others may differ. But it is close to impossible to discern a single, solid reason why wind power — one of the cheapest — should be singled out for arbitrary obliteration. But that is what is happening. With real gusto.”

“Not so long ago, of course, Trump signed a 2009 letter in the NYT calling for massive, global investment in non-carbon energy, insisting that ‘if we fail to act immediately, it is scientifically irrefutable that there will be catastrophic and irreversible consequences for humanity and our planet.’ In 2011, however, Trump found out his new golf course in Scotland would have a potent new offshore wind-turbine project on its horizon, so — surprise! — he lost his s**t and wrote a letter to Alex Salmond, Scotland’s first minister at the time, calling it ‘disastrous and environmentally irresponsible.’”

Everybody got their something …

That’s it for today. As always, tips, comments and questions can be sent to jmicek@masslive.com. Have a good week, friends.