Boston, long the predominantly white population, is now a minority majority. While Asians are the fastest-growing voter group in the United States, Asian-American candidates do not dominate the big-city race
Photo/Visual China
Wen | Reporter Wang Xiaofeng of Caijing
Editor| Haozhou
A record-setting victory for the historic election of Michelle Wu, a 36-year-old Chinese-American city councilor, was elected mayor of Boston on November 2, 2021, in a record-setting victory that welcomed the northeastern metropolis for its first female non-white mayor in nearly 200 years.
"We are ready for this moment, we are ready to be the Boston of everyone, we are ready to make Boston no longer squeeze out its citizens, and welcome everyone who makes our city their home." Wu Yi said in his victory speech.
The final billing results showed that Wu Yi received 63.6% of the votes, and rival Anissa M. Essebbi Annissa Essaibi George was 36.4 percent. This result was expected, and pre-election polls consistently showed Thath's approval ratings were overwhelming.
Mr. Wu will take over as acting mayor, African-American Kim Janey, on Nov. 16. In March, former Mayor Martin Walsh left to serve as U.S. Secretary of Labor, and Gianni was sworn in as acting mayor. Ms. Wu is sometimes sharp-handed, and she often annoys mayor Walsh by publishing criticism of Mayor Walsh directly in the media or on social media.
This Boston mayoral election is very different from history, and it is rare that no incumbent seeks re-election. In a Democrat-dominated city, mayoral primaries tend to be large and competitive. But in this year's primaries, each of the main contenders is non-white, and most are women.
Originally, former Mayor Walsh was the strongest contender, and Wu Yi also criticized Walsh in the media, which greatly annoyed the latter. In September 2020, she was the first candidate to announce a competition with Washsh, when polls showed a good chance that Washsh would win.
Four months later, President Biden chose Walsh as Labor Secretary, and Mr. Wu was elected at a time when the time was right.
This unusualness is no accident, as the ethnic composition of the candidates actually reflects a major change in the racial composition of a city's population over the decades. Boston, long the predominantly white population, is now a minority majority, with black and Hispanic residents making up 19 percent of the population, Asians 11 percent, and whites, but still the largest number of people, accounting for 45 percent of the city's residents, compared to a single minority group. This political shift, which represents future trends, was already highlighted in the 2018 election, when Ayanna Pressley, a black woman and city councilor, defeated Rep. Mike Capuano, who was re-elected for ten consecutive terms, to become a representative of Massachusetts' seventh congressional district.
Wu's victory is seen as another testament to this general trend of ethnic change, and is even more valuable to Asians, who show that while Asians are the fastest-growing voter group in the United States, Asian candidates do not have the upper hand in the big city race. According to the Asian Pacific Congressional Institute, only six of the 100 large cities in the United States have Asian mayors, all of which are located in California or Texas, as evidenced by Mr. Yang's fiasco in the New York City mayoral primary.
Wu Yi, a second-generation Chinese immigrant, grew up in Chicago and worked at a consulting firm after graduation, but after experiencing family changes such as her parents' divorce and her mother's mental illness, she took on the responsibility of supporting her family, and she moved to Boston with her mother to attend Harvard Law School, and then gradually entered politics. In 2013, at the age of 28, she was elected to the City Council, becoming the first Asian-American to be elected to the Boston City Council, and in 2016 she was elected speaker of the Council.
Although considered an Asian politician, Mr. Wu did not play the race card in his campaign, focusing instead on progressive political issues such as rent flattening, climate change, and paid maternity leave. Mr. Wu's progressive political philosophy was heavily influenced by Senator Elizabeth Warren, a Democrat who was a progressive leader in Massachusetts.
The two political women met at Harvard University, when Warren was a law professor who taught contract law, and the two established a deep teacher-student relationship through interaction, and when Warren ran for the Senate, Wu Yi worked for her, and Warren became an important support force for Wu Yi in the future. When asked this summer why he supported Mr. Wu over other progressives, Warren's answer was simple: Mr. Wu was family. In Warren's view, Wu Yi is not only a woman with great ideas and passions, she will also act to complete the things that need to be done.
Warren had a profound influence on Wu's political philosophy, and Wu later said in an interview, "Senator Warren taught me about politics, that is, to change the parties involved in this system to complete the improvement of the system, so as to help the community." I feel like everyone in government has an idealistic spirit because it's an area that can really help people and make a difference in the lives of every family. But I'm also pragmatic, I want to get things done, and I know what's the top priority, the improvement that people need most. ”
With this philosophy in mind, Ms. Wu began her political career in Boston at a time when the metropolitan city was in transition — a younger, more educated and more left-leaning electorate. In this context, her policies took advantage of the trend to attract many young progressives, and she proposed that Boston be a testing ground for progressive policy ideas. For example, a citywide Green New Deal and free transportation were introduced, urban development contracts were redistributed to companies owned by black Boston, police union powers were cut, and some public transportation fees were waived.
Wu also proposed to strengthen supervision and control rents to a certain extent, a policy trend that made real estate stakeholders very unhappy, and she also played against Airbnb. Wu believes that the unregulated status quo is deepening our housing crisis; we are developing policies to balance the benefits of shared housing while plugging loopholes for businesses.
During her four terms as a city councilor, Wu gained a reputation for focusing on substantive matters and grassroots politics, which is also her campaign platform. In her opinion, the municipal level is the most pro-people level of government and the most efficient level, so she attaches great importance to communication with the parties and knows the grassroots politics of Boston very well.
Former City Councilor John Connolly once praised Wu for her extraordinary understanding of grassroots politics, "She's so oblivious to the corners of Boston that she can tell you about six social places where Albanians are in Roslindale[a major neighborhood in Boston]." Chris Dempsey, a former Massachusetts government transportation official, also spoke highly of her, "I saw her appear in public, deal with issues, build constituencies, have conversations, and show a consistent attitude." ”
While gaining political fame, Mr. Wu also faces some skepticism, with critics arguing that mr. Wu is promising unattainable change because policies such as rent controls require action at the state level outside the mayor's authority. Her opponent, Essebie George, argues that Mr. Wu talks about impractical things day after day, while she is pragmatic centrist.
As critics fear, Ms. Wu faces multiple challenges when sworn in, and she will have to work with the Massachusetts government department, where Boston is located, to push ahead with a number of issues such as rent control and free public transportation. Familiar with grassroots politics, she herself has recognized this difficulty, and she believes that after nearly 10 years in the municipal government, I have found that the easiest thing to do in the government is to do nothing, and in the process of trying to bring about change, those who want to maintain the status quo are affected, or feel uneasy, or even suffer losses. ”