Two highly effective political forces – Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and South Boston state Sen. Nick Collins – could possibly be on a collision course, with hypothesis swirling that she wish to goal Collins in subsequent yr’s election.
After crushing her opponents this yr, together with defeating conservative council candidate Frank Baker, Wu may flip to taking out Collins as her subsequent huge political mission.
And given Wu’s rising political energy and her penchant for aggressively difficult her opponents, Collins is paying consideration.
“Would she wish to get him out of there? In all probability,” one plugged in metropolis insider mentioned.
“She needs to defeat him,” one other political insider with information of the spat mentioned.
Collins was answerable for Wu’s greatest and solely political lack of her first time period, the defeat of the mayor’s industrial tax hike plan, which stalled within the state Senate.
Collins additionally notably didn’t endorse Wu for reelection, and was seen by Wu supporters as backing her opponent Josh Kraft, although Collins by no means endorsed him.
So it will make sense that the politically bold Wu wish to get somewhat Boston-style revenge for Collins blocking her tax enterprise, which resulted in her having to hike taxes on Boston residents.
After Collins blocked Wu’s tax proposal, the Globe did a weak hit piece on him taking hundreds of {dollars} in donations from the true property trade. Wu herself has additionally accepted huge cash donations from the identical actual property pursuits.
Collins additionally just lately not directly criticized Wu’s actions or lack of motion round Mass and Cass, writing in a Boston Herald editorial in assist of his invoice to handle the disaster.
“This one intersection has turn into the epicenter of a public well being and public security emergency,” Collins wrote. “Let’s cease ready for headlines to pressure our hand. Let’s act now, go this invoice, and show that we are able to meet this disaster with the urgency and humanity it calls for.”
Collins additionally expressed considerations about transportation points round Wu’s plan to rebuild White Stadium for the Boston girls’s skilled soccer staff, asking the MBTA to assessment the stadium’s environmental influence.
Taking down Collins or discovering an opponent to beat him could possibly be harder than Wu imagines. He was overwhelmingly reelected final time, although he’s by no means actually had a severe opponent.
A listing of highly effective pols sponsoring Collins’s vacation reception fundraiser consists of U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch, Lawyer Normal Andrea Campbell, District Lawyer Kevin Hayden, Clerk John Powers, and state Reps. Aaron Michlewitz, Russell Holmes, Chynah Tyler and Chris Worrell. Different sponsors embrace Metropolis Councilors John Fitzgerald, Ed Flynn, Erin Murphy, Brian Worrell, and Councilor-elect Miniard Culpepper.
However that received’t cease Wu from looking for a candidate to leap within the race. Up to now she has recruited from inside Metropolis Corridor so it wouldn’t be stunning to see certainly one of her aides make the leap towards Collins.
However whereas Collins, who represents not simply South Boston however Dorchester and Chinatown, seems robust to beat, he may take some shrapnel from a Boston Globe story Wednesday about his twin brother, Andrew’s actual property tasks.
The headline on the story was: “A sprawling Southie actual property venture, a state senator’s brother, and $143 million in lawsuits.”
Describing Andrew Collins within the second paragraph, the story mentioned, “He was charismatic, persuasive, and – left unsaid — the similar twin brother of state Senator Nick Collins.”
Within the story, Senator Collins and his brother mentioned the senator had nothing to do with the true property enterprise.
Collins and Wu weren’t at all times enemies, the truth is they’d a superb working relationship when Wu was on the Metropolis Council, in keeping with individuals with information of their relationship. However that has clearly turn into strained over the past yr.
The rising rivalry and potential for Wu to recruit an opponent may turn into open warfare on the St. Patrick’s Day breakfast, which is hosted by Collins. Wu usually goes to the breakfast and is a featured speaker, and her absence would sign a rift between her and Collins.
