Marty Walsh has won another four years as Boston’s mayor.
Walsh and challenger Tito Jackson’s mayoral campaigns came to an end Tuesday night after an Election Day with a low voter turnout in Boston. The Associated Press called the race for mayor around 8:55 p.m., just under an hour after polls across Boston closed and when less than 30 percent of the poll results were accounted for.
Speaking from his campaign headquarters at the Farmont Copley Plaza, Walsh started by thanking his mother Mary, his campaign team “for running a positive campaign in every single community in our city,” the voters and his colleagues in public office.
“To Councillor Jackson, thank you for a spirited campaign,” Walsh said, “and to all of your supporters, the people that went out and voted for you, I want to say thank you. Thank you for making your voices heard and let’s come together and build a city that is truly for all of us.”
Four more years. pic.twitter.com/rOopM0OOJX
— Marty Walsh (@MartyForBoston) November 8, 2017
Only about 22.3 percent of Boston voters — or about 87,200 of the city’s more than 392,000 eligible voters — made it to the polls as of 6 p.m. on Tuesday, according to the city.
Walsh won with 65 percent of the vote; Jackson took about 33 percent.
“Four years ago, my dream came true. You chose this son of immigrants to serve the city that we love,” Walsh said. “After four years of hard work, I believe it more deeply than ever — when we come together, Boston, anything is possible. Today we made a choice to move forward together, to continue the historic progress that we’ve made in the last four years and to work even harder to achieve more for the city we love.”
Looking ahead to the next four years, Walsh talked about expanding opportunities in Boston schools, like enacting universal pre-kindergarten, as well as expanding opportunities for affordable housing and ending chronic homelessness in the city.
The win wasn’t surprising to many since Walsh had maintained a strong lead in polls ahead of the election. A Suffolk University/Boston Globe poll from the end of October had the incumbent candidate 35 percentage points ahead of his city council challenger. The general election results mimicked those of the primary election back in September, in which Walsh received 63 percent of the vote and Jackson 29 percent. It’s also in line with Boston’s history; no incumbent Boston mayor has lost re-election since James Michael Curley in 1949.
Both candidates were Democrats, but Jackson, the former Roxbury city councillor, had hoped to become the city’s first black mayor. However, when he spoke to his campaign team and supporters after conceding the race, he said that his campaign was not so personal.
“I called Mayor Walsh and I congratulated him on his victory … and I walked in here with pride,” Jackson said, “because this was never about me. It was never about Mayor Walsh — it’s always been about the people of the city of Boston and their future and what they need.”
Thank you Boston.
I love you all.
My congratulations to Mayor Walsh.Not an ending but a commencement:https://t.co/4VJ1RHafex#WeAreBoston pic.twitter.com/1LV3Liq3K6
— Tito Jackson (@titojackson) November 8, 2017
Along with the race for mayor, Boston voters weighed in on a number of city council races on Tuesday.
District 7, representing Roxbury, was the seat left vacant by Jackson as he pursued his mayoral run and it saw lots of candidates vying for the position back in the primaries. Kim Janey is now that district’s councilman, having won over Rufus Faulk.
Incumbent Josh Zakim kept his District 8 seat, which handles Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Fenway, Kenmore Square, Mission Hill and the West End. He won over challenger Kristen Mobili.
Incumbent Mark Ciommo also kept his spot on city council for District 9, Allston and Brighton, over challenger Brandon David Bowser.
Four incumbents — Michelle Wu, Michael Flaherty, Ayanna Pressley and Annissa Essaibi George — and four newcomers — Pat Payaso, Domingos Darosa, Althea Garrison and William A. King — were in the running for four of the at-large city council seats, and all the incumbents swept the race, keeping their at-large spots on the city council.
Frank Baker, Andrea Joy Campbell, Timothy McCarthy and Matt O’Malley, city councilors for Districts 3, 4, 5 and 6 respectively, were all running unopposed.
