Call him Hizzonah again.
Boston today gave Tom Menino a record fifth term today, re-electing him by a 57-43 margin over challenger Michael Flaherty.
"Let's be clear: We haven't made history with this election, but we will in what we create of it," Menino told supporters. History will not record the win until we make "a new Boston Miracle for our kids," he said. "Complacency is the highest hurdle we face. Let's fend off the temptation to rest on past accomplishments."
Flaherty thanked his supporters: "I wanted to deliver for you so bad, so bad today." And he praised Menino. He indicated he's not done with Boston politics: "We've raised expectations of Bostonians throughout every single neighborhood. We've given a voice to people who have not been heard for years."
Flaherty said the fight must continue, for charter schools, to combat drop-out rates, for transparency at City Hall and against youth violence: "We should do better, we can do better, because Boston deserves better." He said what he and supporters have learned is that "change takes some time."
WBUR has audio of both Menino's and Flaherty's speeches.
Connolly:
Murphy:
Pressley:
On NECN, Flaherty supporter and firefighters union President Ed Kelly was less conciliatory, saying he hopes he and the mayor can finally resolve their differences before another firefighter dies - a reference to Lt. Kevin Kelley, who died when the brakes on his firetruck failed on a Mission Hill street.
In the race for at-large city council seats, incumbents Steve Murphy and John Connolly easily won re-election. They'll be joined by newcomers Felix Arroyo and Ayanna Pressley, who replace Flaherty and Sam Yoon.
Connolly got the most votes in his second successful council race: "The strength and breadth of support that I received today from Boston residents is truly humbling," he said.
In the contested district races, the four incumbents who had challengers - Sal LaMattina (North End, Charlestown, East Boston), Michael Ross (Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Mission Hill), Mark Ciommo (Allston/Brighton) and Chuck Turner (Roxbury, Fenway) all won easily - even Chuck Turner, who faces a variety of federal extortion and conspiracy charges (interestingly, 1,268 people cast blanks in the race between Turner and Carlos Henriquez).
From city elections department (which also has numbers for the district council races).
Preliminary final results:
THOMAS M. MENINO 63123 57.27% MICHAEL F. FLAHERTY 46768 42.43%
At large:
JOHN R. CONNOLLY 49060 18.37% JOHN R. CONNOLLY 51308 18.35% STEPHEN J. MURPHY 50962 18.22% FELIX G. ARROYO 45099 16.13% AYANNA S. PRESSLEY 41847 14.96% TITO JACKSON 30173 10.79% ANDREW P. KENNEALLY 24215 8.66% TOMAS GONZALEZ 18297 6.54% DOUG BENNETT 16817 6.01%
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