Menino wins historic 4th term

Mayor Thomas Menino won an unprecedented fourth term as Boston's mayor on Tuesday in a landslide victory over opponent and City Councilor-At-Large Maura Hennigan. Menino received 67 percent of the vote compared to Hennigan's 32 percent.

After the votes were tallied, Menino addressed his supporters at a victory party at the Fairmont Copley Plaza. He said that his administration will continue working to move the city forward.

"Tonight we can be proud of all that we've accomplished together," Menino said. "Tonight we can stand tall, but we can not stand still."

He added that he will make changes during his next term. He said his administration would take "the next two months to plan the next four years." Menino said he will bring new faces to promote fresh thinking in his administration.

WILD-AM sports director Willie Maye praised Menino for his accomplishments as mayor.

"That's the big thing about this mayor," Maye said. "His presence is everywhere. That's going to be his legacy."

Paul Lynch, president of Ironworkers Local 7 of Boston, said his union has "strongly supported" Menino throughout the campaign. He said Menino has been working to build a better Boston.

Ed Wright, who is in the Ironworkers union, agreed that Menino was a better candidate for union workers because he cares about the necessities, such as jobs and education.

Sarah Hutt, a local artist, said Menino was also a good choice for the arts community.

"He supports the arts and I think that's really important," she said. "He supports artists with artists' housing and keeping them in the communities."

Hutt said she stood at the polls for 13 hours with a sign encouraging voters to choose Menino.

Rosemary Hurley of Roxbury said Menino has accomplished a lot during his first three terms, but he must continue working during his fourth.

"He has done a lot," she said. "He is a man who has been compassionate. But he needs to do more about the crime and we need to do something about our homes."

Hurley said she supported Menino because she did not think Hennigan was a good choice for mayor. She said Hennigan's campaign exaggerated the problems in Boston during the past 12 years. She added that Hennigan failed to produce a plan that described how she would tackle the city's problems.

Several hundred supporters turned out for the event. While they waited for Menino to make his victory speech, they anxiously watched the poll returns on a projection screen. When the returns started showing Menino's landslide victory, the room erupted in cheers.

Supporters and campaign workers hugged and congratulated one another on a successful campaign.

Meanwhile, around 10:30 p.m., Maura Hennigan conceded the mayoral race to incumbent Thomas Menino at the Back Bay Hilton hotel.

"We made the city better because of this campaign," Hennigan said. "We have shown that to be mayor in this city, you have to be accountable. The city will not go back to what it was, and we will live to fight another day."

Hennigan said she called Menino to congratulate him and told him to "take care of this city, because this city deserves that."

Even though opinion polls showed Hennigan trailing by double digits late in the race, Hennigan and her supporters remained optimistic about her chances and found positives in her defeat.

The campaign, she said, allowed her to raise the voices of those who have been neglected until now.

"We've brought up a lot of issues that needed to be addressed," Hennigan said. "Those issues involved the people that have been ignored by this city for too long. We spoke for blacks, whites, Latinos, gays, straights and the physically challenged."

When asked if she planned on running for public office in 2009, Hennigan said that she would make that decision in the coming weeks.

Hennigan did promise to continue her opposition to the Boston University Level 4 Biolab, although she also would not specify in what manner.

"It is wrong to place [the lab] in any neighborhood, but it is even worse to place it in a neighborhood of the poor and politically un-empowered," she said.

Hennigan ran an aggressive campaign that challenged Menino on issues of city services, such as education, crime and even potholes. However, Menino's supporters said they thought he improved the city's basic services. They said they thought he would continue to improve in another term.

Supporters of Hennigan also said the incumbent Menino benefited from familiarity with the voters.

"People are afraid of change. They've known Menino for 12 years, and even if they aren't completely happy with him right now they still are willing to give him another chance," said Betsey Alvarez, coordinator for Hennigan's community outreach.