Wu super PAC collects $743K from unions, green groups; Kraft takes in $3M

An independent political fund backing Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has raised more than $743,000 so far this year, but lags far behind the $3 million raised by a super PAC supporting rival mayoral candidate Josh Kraft, according to filings with the state.

A disclosure filed late Wednesday shows Bold Boston, a super PAC backing Wu, collected money from more than a dozen donors, including unions, environmental groups and wealthy individuals. This marks the first time this year Bold Boston has reported its contributions to the state Office of Campaign and Political Finance.

The biggest donation of $175,000 came in early June from the Environmental League of Massachusetts Action Fund. That group's only donation so far this year came from billionaire Amos Hostetter: $150,000 in March. (Hostetter is a co-founder of the Barr Foundation, a philanthropic supporter of WBUR's arts and culture coverage.)

The super PAC also received $150,000 from a fund associated with the Unite Here labor union. Three $100,000 donations each came from the Green Advocacy Project in Palo Alto, California; the 1199 SEIU union's political action committee; and Karen Firestone, an investment executive from Brookline.

Meanwhile, the independent super PAC supporting Kraft — Your City, Your Future — has received a pair of  $1 million donations from New Balance chairman and Republican mega-donor Jim Davis and Michael Rubin, a sports businessman and friend of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, Josh Kraft's father.

Wu has previously accused Kraft of trying to use his family's wealth and connections to try to "buy the election." The Kraft campaign responded Thursday by pointing to the money flowing into Bold Boston.

"Michelle Wu has long benefited from super PACs, so her recent criticisms are laughable," a spokesperson for the Kraft campaign said Thursday.

The Kraft campaign also criticized the Wu-supporting super PAC for accepting donations from advocacy groups that do not disclose their donors.

The Wu campaign fired back on Thursday.

“Josh Kraft’s campaign keeps trying to distract from the fact that Trump megadonors and billionaires have now funneled more than $3.1 million into desperate attack ads to try and buy him a job," the statement said. "Boston is not for sale.”

Wu has a slight edge over Kraft when it comes to their individual campaigns — Wu with $2.3 million and Kraft with just under $2 million.

Wu has raised more than $1 million so far this year. Kraft has raised more than $3 million for his campaign, including $2 million he contributed himself.

Outside individual donors can generally only give $1,000 each directly to candidates, so wealthy donors often turn to independent super PACs to give larger dollar amounts.

A late April poll by the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at Saint Anselm College found Wu had greater name recognition and higher approval ratings than Kraft, though Election Day is months away. A preliminary contest is scheduled on Sept. 9 to narrow the field of candidates before the mayoral election on Nov. 4. Candidates Robert Cappucci and Domingos DaRosa have also qualified for the ballot.

Historically, Boston mayors have been notoriously difficult to unseat. The last time a challenger defeated an elected incumbent Boston mayor was 1949.