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Mayoral race: Community activist to challenge Wu, as real estate developer weighs run of his own
Domingos DaRosa plans to run a "grassroots" campaign. Prominent developer Thomas O’Brien is reportedly considering a mayoral bid as well.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is riding high. She had a successful appearance before Congress last week, secured the endorsements of five labor unions, and favorable polling results showed her leading challenger Josh Kraft as she seeks reelection.
But that race got more crowded this week, and another high-profile challenger could be preparing to enter the fray soon.
Community activist Domingos DaRosa filed paperwork Monday with the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance in order to form a candidate’s committee and run for mayor. He announced his intention to run back in early February in a Facebook post.
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DaRosa, 47, is developing a “grassroots team” and is going to run as an independent, he recently told The Boston Globe. He has not yet launched dedicated social media accounts or a website devoted to his mayoral run. DaRosa ran for at-large seats on City Council in 2017, 2019, and 2021. He will need to gather 3,000 signatures to appear on the mayoral ballot later this year.
DaRosa graduated from Madison Park Technical Vocational High School in Roxbury in 1996, worked as the leader of the Boston Bengals Pop Warner program for years, and has focused a lot of effort on the opioid crisis through an organization he co-founded called the South End Roxbury Community Partnership. He put a particular emphasis on picking up used needles around Clifford Park and warning the public about the unsafe conditions there.
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When he ran for City Council in 2021, DaRosa laid out a series of mostly-progressive priorities in a questionnaire for Progressive Massachusetts. He said that cooperation should be even more limited between Boston police and ICE, that Boston should reduce its dependence on cars in favor of fare-free public transit, and that city leaders should pursue rent control options. He opposed the use of safe consumption sites to manage the opioid crisis.
DaRosa made headlines in 2020 when he left hypodermic needles outside former Gov. Charlie Baker‘s Swampscott home. The protest was meant to raise awareness about the need for more services at Mass. and Cass and elsewhere in the city. He called on Baker to call for a state of emergency at the time. Baker’s wife, Lauren, said the situation was “incredibly frightening” for her.
Wu has faced criticism for her handling of the situation at Mass. and Cass. Although her administration successfully cleared a major encampment there and connected many who had been living outside with services, congregate drug use and crime spilled over into other parts of Boston. DaRosa could therefore look to attack Wu on this issue.
In his interview with the Globe, DaRosa said that Boston schools could be improved by a greater focus on extracurricular activities, that the Long Island recovery campus needed to be restored as soon as possible, and that vocational education should be prioritized.
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“I’ve been at it for a while when it comes to trying to make some real drastic changes to Boston’s services,” he told the paper.
Real estate developer could upend race
Wu dealt with intense criticism from the city’s real estate and business communities last year when she tried and failed to shift the city’s property tax burden onto commercial real estate to save homeowners money. She is trying again this year. It is part of a larger pattern of tensions between the mayor and business leaders.
A different kind of candidate from DaRosa could also be jumping into the race. Thomas O’Brien, one of Boston’s most prominent real estate developers, is mulling a mayoral run, the Globe reported.
O’Brien is managing partner of The HYM Investment Group and formerly worked under Mayor Menino in the Boston Redevelopment Authority, where he served as the agency’s director. He resigned amid a scandal that involved a top BRA aide who purchased a subsidized condo meant for low income families.
O’Brien, like Kraft, could look to peel away more moderate voters from Wu’s coalition. But this could theoretically spell trouble for Kraft as well.
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Larry DiCara, a real estate attorney who served on city council for more than a decade and previously ran for mayor himself, said that O’Brien could mount a serious campaign.
“He’d be a very substantial candidate if he decides to run. It makes it more difficult for Kraft to put the pieces together,” DiCara told the Globe. “This changes the entire ballgame.”
Wu was asked about O’Brien’s potential candidacy during an appearance on GBH’s “Boston Public Radio” Tuesday. She acknowledged that this is a “difficult time” for developers.
“It is a reality that there are developers and those within the real estate community who very much want to see us loosening affordability requirements … and giving tax breaks or other usage of public funds to build more profit for those who are struggling right now,” Wu said.
She did not comment on O’Brien directly, and said that her administration has done everything possible to work with developers to boost housing. But Wu denounced “giveaways” to developers.
“There have been some who believe that the public sector should subsidize when this group of profit-focused businesses is underwater,” Wu said. “That has not been my philosophy.”
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