Patriots owner Robert Kraft's son Josh reported to be "actively considering" running for Boston Mayor

Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his son Josh
Patriots owner Robert Kraft and his son Josh

Robert Kraft is entrenched in New England's culture, and soon one of his sons may become leader of the region. On Wednesday, the Boston Globe's Niki Griswold reported that insiders believed that the Patriots owner's son Josh was "actively considering" running for mayor of Boston, the capital of Massachusetts and the largest city in New England.

When asked about his potential bid at a ceremony in Roxbury, one of the city's more ethnically diverse neighborhoods, on Saturday, Josh said:

“I’m looking at a lot of opportunities now, and I have nothing to report.”

Joyce Ferriabough Bolling, a prominent political strategist in the area, is already liking his prospects, whether incumbent Michelle Wu decides to seek reelection or not:

“He would be a formidable candidate. He’s done quite a bit in communities of color... [The Krafts] don’t just talk the talk and just write a check, they’re actively involved.”

But her peer Jacquetta Van Zandt believes he needs a unique strategy to stand a chance of victory in a place where incumbents have been historically near-flawless when seeking reelection:

“People in the community respect him, they respect him aside from his family, they respect his intentionality of being on the front line. But people will want to know, outside of the Boys and Girls Club, what have you done? Where are you going to take the city? ...What are you going to do differently from [Wu]?”

This will not be Josh's first planned foray into politics. In 2022, he was mooted as a candidate for governor of Massachusetts after Charlie Baker decided to stand down.

He has also been rumored to be eyeing Ayana Pressley's seat in the House of Representatives, however; he has denied such rumors.


Who is Josh Kraft? A brief profile of the son of Patriots owner Robert Kraft

Robert Kraft's marriage to Myra Nathalie Hyatt produced four sons, with Josh being the third.

After attending the Rivers School at Weston, Josh went to Williams College, before doing post-graduate studies at Harvard. Since then, he has been a prominent figure within New England, mainly for his lineage but also for his philanthropic efforts.

Beginning in the early 1990s, he worked with the Boston chapter of the Boys & Girls Club, even becoming its president and chief operating officer in 2008. He would step down in 2020 to become head of the Kraft Family of Philanthropies, a position he holds to this day.

Josh is also the chairman of the National Urban League's Eastern Massachusetts branch and sits on the boards of Lasell and Brandeis Universities and Brigham and Women's Hospital, among other institutions.

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