Boston mayoral candidate Josh Kraft backtracked on his campaign promise to implement a rent control plan, saying that he envisions an “opt-in” program that would incentivize landlords to keep rent

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 son of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, formally launched his campaign for mayor of Boston on Tuesday.