首位华裔女性角逐波士顿市长！18岁进哈佛，30岁当选议长，36岁问鼎波士顿市长！

来源 | 城市菜地

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一位非常可能打破200年来波士顿市长都是由白人男性担任的传统，成为美国东北第一大城，同时也是全美医学、法律、生物工程、信息工程、商业重镇，波士顿，的第一位华裔女性市长。

9月中旬，呼声甚高的华裔候选人吴弭（Michelle Wu）和另一位女性候选人安妮莎· 埃塞比· 乔治（Annissa Essaibi George）从初选的5名候选人中胜出，并将于11月2日最终对决。“波士顿正处于一个难得的机遇时刻，我们现在肩负着挺身而出的那一份责任。”吴弭对支持者们说，“我们一次次地在这座城市看到，不可能成为可能。”

据美国全国广播电视公司报道，同样担任波士顿市议员的吴弭和安妮莎· 埃塞比· 乔治在预选中夺得前两位的支持率，得以进入11月的最终选举。其中吴弭以33%的选票领先，安妮莎· 埃塞比· 乔治以22%的得票率排名第二。

两位候选人都来自民主党，但吴弭偏向进步派，以平抑房租、应对气候变化和提供免费公交等主张在年轻选民中赢得较高支持率。安妮莎· 埃塞比· 乔治则属于温和派人士，政策主张偏重稳妥。

吴弭出生于美国伊利诺州芝加哥。2013年，28岁的她当选波士顿的市议员。2016年，吴弭全票当选为市议会的主席，成为首位担此要职的少数族裔女性。在竞选市长之前，吴弭曾就读于哈佛大学，师从时任法学教授的美国参议员伊丽莎白·沃伦。

200多年来，作为美国历史最悠久的城市之一，波士顿一直是由白人男性当市长。无论谁在11月的选举中胜出，波士顿都将首次迎来女性市长。假使吴弭届时胜出，那么将是女性和亚裔的双重历史性胜出。

“Michelle has always been a fighter—as one of my students, as a Boston city councilor, and now as a candidate for Mayor,” said Senator Warren. “She is a tireless advocate for families and communities who feel unseen and unheard. Michelle is not just a woman full of good ideas and a passionate heart, she is a woman who gets out and does the work that needs to be done to make a difference in people's lives. Bostonians can count on Michelle’s bold, progressive leadership to tackle our biggest challenges, such as recovering from the pandemic, dismantling systemic racism, prioritizing housing justice, revitalizing our transportation infrastructure, and addressing the climate crisis.”

Michelle Wu200 Years, Countless Stories

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Growing up, I simply had no sense, no conception that this was even within the realm of possibility for myself.

As the daughter of immigrants, politics was never discussed.

We didn't follow current events.

I never saw anyone who looked like me in positions of leadership.

I suppose what has surprised me most is that it's actually pretty easy to make a difference in government.

And I really believe that public service is the best way to make a difference in the world.

I had just graduated college.

I was working downtown in Boston doing consulting.

I got one of those phone calls that no one ever wants to get.

One of my little sisters called me and said, you have to come home now.

There's something very wrong with mom.

And when I flew from Boston back to Chicago, realized that my mom was essentially in the midst of a mental breakdown.

I left my job in Boston.

I left my life as a young professional and went back to take care of my two younger sisters who were fairly young at that time, take care of my mom, and decided to open a small family tea house to keep us going.

I loved every bit of it except for every time we had to deal with city hall in some way.

It seemed like, if we just fulfilled all the requirements that were laid out in municipal law, it would be fine.

But it ended up being almost eight months of bureaucracy, red tape, inspections, going back and forth, appealing this and that.

And I felt like no one in government was even acknowledging real life, much less trying to help us.

I really wanted to go back to law school and understand how I could help craft some of those ordinances and shape some of that city government bureaucracy to make it easier for families.

Law school was really my time for self exploration.

I spent a lot of time taking advantage of the flexibility that HLS offers with getting real-life, hands-on experience.

I had a clinical helping business owners sort through legal bureaucracy.

Being able to help someone else with an incredibly frustrating situation that I had been through and that my family had experienced was very empowering and meaningful.

There will be no comparison to being in then-Professor Elizabeth Warren's 1L Contracts Law class.

What actually made me think about politics as a possibility was seeing her transition from professor to candidate to Senator without changing anything about herself.

It was incredibly inspiring to see that you don't have to put on a politician face or have a very different public and private persona.

What I know most of all is that my experiences, my sacrifices, and my accomplishments, mirror the hard work and experiences of families throughout our city.

All in favor, say aye.

Aye.

Any opposed, say nay.

Ayes have it.

Docket 0443 has been adopted.

I am now in my fourth year on the city council and have passed ordinances ranging from language access and health care equity, paid parental leave-- which I believe is the issue underlying income inequality-- up through ordinances around small business, getting back to my original love.

And I think when people ask me, what am I proudest of in my time on the council, it's bringing transparency to what we do.

So every week, I put out a summary of what we voted on at the council meeting, what the result was, what we're discussing, upcoming hearings.

And that has transformed people's access to city government and being able to have a stake and have a say.

And today, we will adjourn our meeting in memory of the following individuals.

For Counselor Baker, Paul Ryan, for Counselor, Martin O'Brien.

At the end of the day, I want to be authentic, humble, and grateful.

And I'm not going to be in politics forever.

And I want to be proud, when I'm out of politics, of the person that I was all through this time leading up to that point.

吴弭（Michelle Wu）的父亲祖籍北京、母亲祖籍广东，外婆是四川人，早年全家从台湾移民到美国。1985年，吴弭在芝加哥出生，勤奋好学，后毕业于哈佛大学法学院，是一个典型的知书达礼、谦卑善良的邻家女孩。以全优成绩高中毕业，荣获总统奖学金， 在2003年进入哈佛大学本科就读，2007年本科毕业，2012年哈佛法学院毕业，师从哈佛法学院教授, 美国国会参议员，伊丽萨白·沃伦 (Elizabeth Warren)。

吴弭说，她的父母移民来到美国时没有钱、没有人脉，也不会说英语，她母亲后来还出现精神问题。因而吴弭从很久以前就开始照顾母亲和姐妹们。这种经历让她体验到被人忽视、渴求帮助感受。

当母亲患精神疾病时，自己担负起照顾她和抚养两个妹妹的责任；这是自己家中、也是整个波士顿社区的挣扎与梦想。“这是我家人和我们社区许多家庭的奋斗与梦想，这是我过去8年带到市政府中的理念。”她说。

2009年，吴弭带着病重的母亲和幼小的妹妹们返回波士顿，进入哈佛法学院学习。在照料母亲和妹妹们的艰辛生活中，吴弭深刻领会到穷人生活的不易，为了改善穷人的处境，吴弭决定全力以赴做社区工作。在法学院期间，她为当时的波士顿市长业余工作，起草出在波士顿开办餐馆的法规指南，并推出移动餐车(food truck)， 让一些大的办公社区中午吃饭难问题得到缓解，后来吴弭又在波士顿医疗中心(Boston Medical Center)为穷人提供法律帮助。

2015年底，吴弭获市议会推选为2016—2017届议长。根据波士顿市议会历史记录显示，吴弭是波士顿市历史上首位华裔议长。

在2019年的波士顿选举中，吴弭是得票率最高的市议员，当时获得了20.71%的票数，超过第2名安妮莎·埃赛比·乔治（Annissa Essaibi George）近4个百分点。

2020年9月15日，吴弭宣布参加2021年11月的波士顿市长竞选，并发布了第一条竞选宣传片。在2021年9月14日的波士顿市长初选中，吴弭以33.3%的高选票排在第一位，以领先第二名安妮莎·埃赛比·乔治（Annissa Essaibi George）近11%的优势，赢得了波士顿市长的初选。接下来, 吴弭还是会在11月2日的大选中, 再一次打败这个老对手。

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