New poll shows Wu with 50-point lead over Kraft in Boston mayor race

A new poll shows Mayor Michelle Wu with a commanding 50-point lead over her top challenger, Josh Kraft.

The Emerson College Polling survey of 555 Boston voters released Friday shows 72% support Wu, with just 22% supporting Kraft.

It's a stark increase from the last public polling released in June, when Wu held a 30-point lead over Kraft.

“Over the past seven months, Mayor Wu appears to have made her case for re-election to Boston voters, while Kraft has not been able to expand his support,” Spencer Kimball, executive director of Emerson College Polling, said in a press release.

Kraft, the third son of billionaire New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, on Thursday told WBUR, “If I paid attention to polls, I wouldn’t have gotten involved in this.”

The poll comes on the heels of news that Kraft donated nearly $3.5 million to his campaign in August, bringing his total personal investment to roughly $5.5 million.

"People want change and I believe in that and that's what's driving me,” Kraft said.

Early voting in the city's preliminary election is underway and polls close at the end of the day Tuesday. This round narrows the mayoral field from four candidates to two, ahead of the November general election.

The Emerson College poll also asked voters about Wu's refusal to drop Boston's so-called sanctuary city policies, which bar police from assisting immigration authorities, except in criminal matters. The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Thursday against Boston over this policy. Two-thirds of Boston voters approve of Wu's stance; 23% disapprove.

The poll was conducted Sept. 2 and 3, before the lawsuit was announced.