Boston Mayor Michelle Wu officially kicked off her reelection campaign with a pointed speech that sought to portray herself as the only reasonable option to lead the city at a time when it is “under attack” by the federal administration.

Wu took nearly an hour and a half to take the stage Saturday at the Cyclorama building in the South End, where roughly 1,200 people were waiting to hear her speak, according to a crowd estimate from a campaign representative.

When the mayor did finally step up to the mic, she pulled no punches when it came to laying out how damaging she said it could be for the city if voters choose to elect her main opponent in the race, Josh Kraft, son of the billionaire New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft and a political newcomer.

At a time when Boston is “under attack” by a federal administration that is “threatened by who we are as a city,” Wu said, “now is not the time for a mayor who needs on-the-job training.”

While lambasting Kraft, Wu also appeared to take aim at Thomas O’Brien, a prominent real estate developer in the city who was considering challenging her in the mayor’s race but changed his mind about a week ago.

“Now is certainly not the time to hand the keys over to billionaires or developers,”  Wu said. “We’ve already seen what happens when millionaires and billionaires try to run a country. We don’t need to see what happens when they run a city, too — because this is our city and our city is not for sale.”

Wu, however, aimed the majority of her vitriol at her current challenger. Along with highlighting his political inexperience, she raised doubts about Kraft’s ability to put the city first when it comes to his family’s business interests.

Relations have been frosty between the Wu administration and the Kraft Group in recent months. The two sides are working to hammer out a community mitigation agreement for impacts the Krafts’ plan to build a professional soccer stadium in Everett would have on the nearby Charlestown neighborhood in Boston.

Kraft has said he would recuse himself from matters related to the Everett stadium deal, which Wu and other Boston officials have criticized due to traffic impacts and the city’s lack of involvement in the Krafts’ planning, should he be elected mayor.

“Boston doesn’t need a mayor who has to recuse himself from conflicts of interest,” Wu said. “We need a mayor whose only interest is Boston, who fights for Boston’s success, instead of standing on the sidelines rooting against us.”

Wu, a first-term mayor, is launching her reelection campaign at a time when she’s in the national spotlight for taking on the Trump administration, including by verbally sparring with President Trump’s border czar Tom Homan.

She’s coming off a strong appearance in Washington D.C. last month, when she testified before the Republican-led Congressional oversight committee, which is probing sanctuary cities like Boston and their impact on public safety — in terms of their policies that limit local cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

Wu leaned into her public battle with the Trump administration during her reelection campaign speech, and touted her administration’s public safety record, saying that it has set “record lows” in homicides each year she’s been in office, “and now we’re the safest major city in the country.”

“I promise you that Boston will never back down from fighting for our families and our future,” Wu said. “Boston will never back down, not from kings, not from bullies and not from naysayers who want to take us backward.”

Asked afterwards whether the national attention has led her to consider a bid for higher office or made her give any thought to not running for mayor again, Wu, who waited seven months to formally launch her campaign after first stating her intention to run for reelection last July, gave a one-word answer.

“No,” she said.

Wu’s shots at Kraft and the Trump administration drew the loudest applause, but she also used her speech to dance between touting her first-term accomplishments, and making a pitch to voters to stick with her to let her continue the work that she promised she would when they first elected her.

The mayor touched on her efforts to improve housing affordability and tackle climate change, referencing an initiative she led that will require all new building construction to adhere to net-zero emission standards beginning this year.

She also said leadership at the Boston Public Schools, which narrowly escaped state receivership a few years ago, has stabilized under her watch after four years of “revolving-door” instability.

Wu said she’s remade the city’s planning department, established three free MBTA bus routes in Boston through February 2026, and maintained the city’s AAA bond rating.

“Over the next four years, it will get harder before it gets easier for our families,” Wu said. “I am asking for your vote and I am asking for your support because we have more work to do and Boston needs a mayor that fights for them.”

The Kraft campaign issued a scathing response to Wu’s speech, saying the mayor has failed to deliver on major campaign promises, like enacting rent control, making the MBTA free for residents, delivering a Green New Deal for Boston schools, switching to an elected school committee, making housing more affordable and solving Mass and Cass.

Related Articles

FBI Boston ‘deed fraud’ warning resembles Water and Sewer Commission HR director civil suit

‘We deserve this’: Boston Mayor Wu defends $100M taxpayer tab for White Stadium amid budget crunch

Battenfeld: Could White Stadium court ruling be a pyrrhic victory for Michelle Wu?

Boston City Council passes measure to curb ‘dangerous’ food delivery scooter operations

Superior Court judge clears the path for Boston’s White Stadium pro soccer plan, rules it doesn’t violate state law

“Lots of words, lofty claims, and victory laps on national issues is what Mayor Wu offered today, but what Bostonians are looking for is someone who is connected to their concerns and challenges and is focused on helping them,” Kraft, a longtime philanthropist, said in a statement.  “As mayor, I will listen to the people of this city and my focus will be on producing real results.

“Mayor Wu has taken an ideology-first, results-second approach to governing,” he added. “The results? Record high rents and home prices. A 20% increase in city spending and a 10% residential tax increase while pledging to spend $100 million (‘whatever it costs’) for White Stadium. No progress on ending the human suffering and public safety problems at Mass and Cass. Parents taking their kids out of the public school system in record numbers. Millions spent on poorly designed and hastily installed bike lanes clogging our streets. And an election department in state receivership.

“Not to mention she has failed to deliver on a single campaign promise she made to the people of Boston.”

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and her family after she announces her re election candidacy on April 5. (Staff Photo By Stuart Cahill/Boston Herald)