Current Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh won a second term on election night, succeeding his competitor, City Councilor Tito Jackson, by nearly 30 percentage points on Nov. 7.
According to the polls, Walsh earned 66 percent of Boston voters while Jackson won the remaining 34 percent.
Walsh addressed his hundreds of supporters chanting “Marty, Marty,” at the Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel: “Tonight, we commit once again to become a city for all of us. To write the way forward and to make the greatest city, even greater,” he said.
In his speech, Walsh noted that since he has become mayor, he has created nearly 70,000 jobs, 22 new homes, raised the graduation rate, and improved the Boston school systems. “We did this together,” he said.
Despite an easy win against Jackson, Walsh was criticized for the lack of affordable housing available in Boston during the campaign. With spikes in the cost of rent in Boston, Jackson expressed that if he were elected mayor, he would fight for and create more affordable housing. As reported by WBUR earlier this month, Jackson proposed to abolish the Boston Planning and Developing Agency in order to increase the number of affordable housing in Boston.
Walsh’s vocal support for immigrants and great opposition to President Donald Trump seemed to gain him much of Boston’s support, also landing him in the national spotlight.
In July, Walsh created nearly 17,000 housing units in the span of three months for low- and middle-income communities in Boston. Earlier this year, a City Hall press conference was held when Boston’s sanctuary city status was in question. Walsh offered his office as a safe refuge for Boston’s undocumented immigrants and residents.
On Nov. 7, Jackson told his supporters that he had wanted to give them the race that the people of Boston deserved, but the city is now better because of it. Jackson had repeated throughout the election that he had hoped to make history by becoming the first black mayor of Boston.
Jackson said that he called Walsh to congratulate him for his victory 15 minutes before Walsh addressed his audience, the Boston Globe reported.
“Affordable, working-family housing needs to be in our city. So we are going to keep building homes for all of us,” Walsh said on Nov. 7.
“Ten years ago, my dream came true. You chose this son of immigrants to serve the city that we love. I say we are in this together, every neighborhood, every race and religion,” said Walsh.
“You were union members, you were advocates, artists, you were members of the LGBTQ community… you are Boston,” Walsh said.