In 2022, Brett Smiley, a relative moderate, became mayor of Providence after vowing to address housing and public safety. In 2023, a Democrat who favored forcibly removing homeless people and said he wanted to make the City Council more conservative won in Portland, Maine.

Josh Kraft, the billionaire son of Patriots owner Robert Kraft, launched an ambitious campaign for mayor of Boston today, calling for rent control, a boost to affordable housing development and a pause on the city’s controversial White Stadium project.

Josh Kraft, the son of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, will formally launch his campaign for mayor of Boston on Tuesday.