Emerson College Polling Nailed the Boston Mayoral Preliminary Race. Here’s How

On September 9, incumbent Michelle Wu won Boston’s preliminary mayoral election with a staggering 72 percent of the vote, nearly 50 percentage points higher than the runner up, Josh Kraft, who ended up with 23.1 percent.

“The result was remarkably close to that of an Emerson College poll published last week, which showed Wu leading Kraft 72% to 22%, a 50-percentage-point margin,” MassLive said in a story on polling leading up to election day.

Polling the Boston mayoral election not only gave an accurate snapshot of what voters could expect on Election Day, but also showed the value of tracking a race over time.

“Our February poll had Wu up by 14 points; by the end, she led by nearly 50, within one point of the actual result,” Emerson College Polling Communications Director Camille Mumford said. “The New York Times turned to Emerson’s polling to help explain her decisive win, as the poll found ‘two-thirds of city voters supported the mayor’s continuing commitment to Boston’s immigration policies.'”

Mumford said Emerson College Polling will use the results in the Emerson classroom this fall, both in political and survey research courses.

Last fall, Emerson Today talked to Emerson College Polling about their methodologies and why they so frequently work.