Menino wins historic 5th term in Boston

BOSTON, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Thomas Menino Tuesday won a fifth term as mayor of Boston, a feat unmatched by in the city's storied political history.

Menino picked up 57 percent of the vote to 42 percent for Councilman-at-Large Thomas Flaherty Jr., The Boston Globe reported.

"The headlines may read that today we were elected to a fifth, historic term," Menino told his supporters at the Fairmont Copley Plaza. "Let's be clear: We haven't made history with this election, but we will, with what we create of it."

Menino was the first Italian-American mayor in a city where politics was long dominated by Irish-Americans. A former insurance salesman, he has given a deprecating description of himself: "I'm not good looking, I can't speak well, I'm not smart. I'm driven.''

During the campaign, he used the power of incumbency and a big campaign fund, cutting ribbons and presiding at political events. He ignored attacks from Flaherty and Sam Yoon, another councilman who finished third in the preliminary election in May and joined Flaherty in an anti-Menino alliance, the Globe said.