A court ruling giving the green light for Mayor Michelle Wu’s White Stadium redevelopment plan has taken a major issue from her opponent Josh Kraft but could come back to haunt her later in the campaign.

The judge’s decision means Wu will get her way, but also ensures taxpayers are on the hook for at least $100 million of the project’s price tag.

The ruling also could inflame residents living near the stadium even more, escalating feelings that Wu has bulldozed the community into accepting the stadium for a professional women’s soccer team.

“Our community is used to seeing laws meant to protect the public get trampled when the rich and powerful see an opportunity to make money,” said Dr. Jean McGuire, a longtime Roxbury community activist and plaintiff in the failed lawsuit to stop the stadium renovation.

Kraft has made the White Stadium project a major issue in his underdog campaign, claiming it highlights Wu’s top down, heavy handed management style and refusal to take into account residents’ concerns.

He has demanded that Wu pause the stadium redevelopment, which is already well underway, with scores of old trees being cut down to make way for parking lots.

Wu has ignored the demands, saying the project needs to be ongoing to ensure the professional women’s soccer team can start playing and practicing there in 2026. She took a victory lap on Wednesday in a statement cheering the ruling.

“In a city of sports champions, this is a historic victory,” Wu said.

Yes, but will it be a Pyrrhic victory for Wu, coming at a cost for her reelection hopes?

“Spending over $100 million in taxpayer dollars on a project that will primarily benefit a private entity is a bad idea, regardless of the legal outcome today,” Kraft said in a statement. “Taxpayer dollars are going to be scarce going forward and there are so many pressing needs – housing, money for schools, tax relief for seniors, to name a few – that should be prioritized over this project. It made little sense when the mayor first pushed for this and it makes little sense today.”

McGuire and other plaintiffs living near the Franklin Park stadium had argued that the project violates a state law meant to protect public park lands.

But Suffolk Superior Court Judge Matthew Nestor disagreed, saying in an 18-page ruling that “Notwithstanding the testimony from nearby residents, there is simply inadequate evidence that the everyday use of the property evinces an unequivocal intent to dedicate the property as public parkland.”

The decision means the demolition of White Stadium will continue as planned, taking much of the steam out of Kraft and the opponents living in the Franklin Park neighborhood.

During the trial, Nestor made clear he was not ruling on whether the stadium project is good policy, saying “I’m not here to decide if this is a good project or a bad project.”

But Wu will take the ruling as vindication – yet another win for her in a series of high profile victories for her administration and campaign over the last few weeks. Everything seems to be going Wu’s way for now.

“We thank the Superior Court for twice affirming this vital project for our students and community as a year round facility that will inspire the next generation of Boston students,” she said, ignoring the fact that the judge’s ruling was only on the merits of whether it violated state law.