Michelle Wu crushes in prelim election; Josh Kraft faces uphill fight

• Months of sustained criticism from Kraft on Wu's management style, housing policies, public safety record and dedication to expanding bike lanes didn't seem to register with voters.

By the numbers: Wu secured 71.6% of preliminary votes, according to the Associated Press.

• Kraft finished with 23.3% support, according to the AP.
• Two minor candidates were eliminated from November's ballot.

Wu carried the usual progressive strongholds while also performing well in areas where Kraft had hoped to gain traction.

• Kraft managed to outperform Wu in a few of the more right-leaning areas of town, like Dorchester's Florian Hall.

Reality check: Despite investing $5.5 million of his own money into the campaign, Kraft failed to dent Wu's approval against the backdrop of Boston's conflicts with the Trump administration.

What's next: Kraft has eight weeks to bring in new campaign advisers, spend more money and fundamentally reshape the race.

• Wu will have to maintain her momentum and deal with whatever challenges come her way from Washington, a strategy that's worked well so far.

The bottom line: Instead of a competitive referendum on Wu's first term, the mayor's huge margin of victory in the preliminary means the race could end up a resounding stamp of approval for the progressive Wu.

• To beat her, Kraft would need to pull off a political turnaround the likes of which Boston has never seen.