Bostonians are focusing on local issues and assessing local politicians’ impact on national campaigns as Election Day approaches and voters cast their ballots.
Mayor Michelle Wu has been campaigning across the country in support of Vice President Kamala Harris. She appeared in New Hampshire last week to campaign for the Democratic nominee and was a Massachusetts delegate at the Democratic National Convention in August.
Thomas Larsen, a junior at Boston University and president of BU College Democrats, said since neither the mayoral nor at-large city council seats are on the ballot this year, he is focused on how larger-scale elections will impact the City of Boston.
“Taking those local considerations, you can also look at the larger candidates and their policy positions on how they plan on supporting these local governments,” Larsen said.
Larsen said as a college student, local issues like “public transit,” “walkability and environmental practices” and “revitalizing the nightlife district in Boston” take priority when assessing local needs in the election.
Kenneth Dunne, a patent examiner for the United States government, said while he is new to Boston, he values local issues such as “increasing minimum wage” and “greater access for various people” when casting a ballot. On a national level, Dunne said he cares about the “preservation towards rule of law.”
Larsen said he is voting to protect “the woman’s right to choose” and promote “common-sense gun control” in this election.
John Ogle, 26, said many presidential campaigns focus on attacking the opponent which is “how you get a lot of misinformation about certain stuff.”
Ogle said he has concerns about Wu campaigning for Harris and said the public should be more aware of what Wu’s policies are regarding issues that affect the City of Boston.
He said “having more talking points and being able to give your information [of] what your plan actually is” is vital for local politicians like Wu who are campaigning for the national election.
Larsen said he does not think Wu’s campaigning for Harris is “a huge detractor” from her role as mayor. He said a lot of Wu’s work in this election cycle is “surrogacy work” that does not take her away from her mayoral duties.
“She’s rallying up supporters, she’s mobilizing people and a lot of that work happens on the weekends, so that’s when she might be on call for the City but isn’t exactly required to be in office,” Larsen said.
Larsen said while he sees Wu potentially choosing to take time off in the days before Election Day to campaign for the national candidates, it “is no different from her taking a vacation.”
“If she prepared properly, which I assume she did, it shouldn’t have a huge impact on the governing of the city and the functioning of the operations,” Larsen said.
