Batter up: David Ortiz featured in new Wu reelection ad

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The Michelle Wu super PAC backed by left-leaning unions and environmental groups has called up David Ortiz.

The super PAC, Bold Boston, this weekend is blasting to Boston voters’ cellphones a 30-second digital ad that features the mayor and the former Red Sox hitter in animated form. Additional information on ad spending was not immediately available.

“Take it from Big Papi: the mayor Boston needs is the mayor we’ve already got,” the voiceover says.

Ortiz formally endorsed Wu in May and filmed a video with her that she posted to social media. The ad appears to use audio from the video.

Wu is facing Josh Kraft, son of New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, and two other candidates in the Sept. 9 preliminary, which will narrow the field to two finalists for November.

The Ortiz ad echoes Wu’s campaign trail message, which has taken aim at Josh Kraft’s wealth and lack of experience inside City Hall. “Wu gets things done for Boston,” the ad says. “Boston needs a mayor who can’t be bought, with the kind of experience that can’t be taught.”

Super PACs, which do not face fundraising or spending limits, are not allowed to directly coordinate with the campaigns they support. Both sides traded allegations of coordination in June.

Super PACs sometimes take cues from the public messaging of candidates they’re supporting. Your City Your Future, the Kraft super PAC, has followed Kraft’s lead in criticizing Wu over bike lane implementation and the White Stadium renovation project, a public-private partnership that has seen escalating costs.

Your City Your Future, with its high-dollar donors who have ties to the Kraft family, is on track to be the best-funded super PAC in Boston since that type of campaign entity slammed into local politics in 2013. The Kraft super PAC has spent $3.1 million, much of it on streaming and digital ads.

That far outstrips Bold Boston’s efforts, which have raised just $835,000, with $200,000 coming from groups tied to UNITE HERE Local 26, which represents hospitality workers like concessions employees at Fenway Park. The Wu super PAC has spent just over $400,000 on media buys.

Kraft is down by 30 points in a matchup with Wu, according to a Boston Globe poll. In a recent interview with the Dorchester Reporter, Kraft said he was “shocked” by the poll because he’s heard differently while canvassing neighborhoods. “I’m going to work as hard as I can physically, mentally, and just keep looking and connecting, talking to folks, hearing folks, and so on,” he said. “It’s all about people connecting to me.”

Which holds more sway: Athlete endorsements or unsigned editorial endorsements in news outlets? Let me know what you think: [email protected].

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11:00 | Sturdy Health hosts groundbreaking ceremony for a 38,000-square-foot emergency department expansion in Attleboro. The expansion includes a secure behavioral health unit. Attendees include Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll, HHS Secretary Kiame Mahaniah, U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss, and U.S. Sen. Ed Markey. | Sturdy Memorial Hospital, 211 Park St., Attleboro

6:30 | Massachusetts film industry leaders sit on a "Making it in the Massachusetts Film Industry" panel on the first day of the Fan Expo Boston. Massachusetts Film Office Director Meg Montagnino-Jarrett, chair of Emerson College Department of Visual and Media Arts Shaun Clarke, and Lisa Simmons, artistic director and curator of the Roxbury International Film Festival, are among panelists. | Room 160A, Menino Convention and Exhibition Center, Boston | Agenda

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KELLER AT LARGE: 8:30 a.m., WBZ-TV. Political analyst Jon Keller's guest is U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who discusses the state of the economy, President Trump's firing of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the status of federal funding for key Massachusetts infrastructure projects, and her ability to communicate with the executive branch.

NBC10 BOSTON: 9:30 a.m., NBC 10. Reporter Matt Prichard interviews Sen. Cindy Friedman, who represents Woburn and Arlington, Billerica, Burlington, and part of Lexington.

ON THE RECORD: 11 a.m., WCVB. The guest is Jim Rooney, the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce’s president and CEO.

TRAIN TIME: New high-speed Amtrak trains are expected to hit the rails on Aug. 28 on the Northeast Corridor, which runs from Boston to New York and Washington. The Acela trains, which are 10 miles per hour faster than the current ones, are arriving after multiple delays. – CNN

SILENT TREATMENT: Sean O’Brien, the Medford native serving as Teamsters president, says U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders has stopped talking to him following O’Brien’s speech at the 2024 Republican National Convention.  – Fox News

HALL OF FAME: GBH’s Callie Crossley, the creator and host of the “Under the Radar” show, is set to be inducted into the National Association of Black Journalists Hall of Fame when the organization meets in Cleveland on Aug. 8. – Boston Business Journal

NO PENSION PAYOUT: A retired state trooper who was involved in the overtime fraud scandal cannot keep his pension, valued at over $1 million, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled. – Boston Herald

LACKING LAWYERS: Just over 40 defendants under the age of 18 are waiting for a lawyer in Suffolk County as a Supreme Judicial Court justice weighs next steps. – MassLive

DEFAMATION SUIT: Springfield City Councilor Maria Perez, weeks after she was terminated by the New North Citizens Council, has filed a defamation suit naming her former employer and a political rival. – Western Mass. Politics and Insight

‘FEAR AND INTIMIDATION’: A Market Basket employee is alleging that the grocery chain’s Tewksbury headquarters is home to an “environment of fear and intimidation.” – Boston Business Journal

TARIFFS AND TOURISM: Plymouth’s waterfront and downtown area is seeing less activity as inflation, the federal government’s immigration stance and tariffs are combining to hit the local economy. Local officials have specifically seen a drop in Canadian visits. – Plymouth Independent

CONVERSION BARRIERS: Communities like Springfield and Holyoke are struggling with developing blighted industrial buildings, unlike Lowell and Lawrence, which are almost out of such properties available for restoration. – CommonWealth Beacon

FISH STORY: Roger Berkowitz, who sold off Legal Sea Foods in 2020, received approval from Boston’s licensing board to open a new eatery inside Logan Airport’s Terminal A. – Universal Hub

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