Michelle Wu Becomes First Woman and Person of Color Elected as Boston Mayor

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In Boston's almost 200 years of having mayors there has never been a non-white male elected as mayor. That changed on Tuesday when Michelle Wu easily defeated Annissa Essaibi George.

Wu was first elected as an At-Large Boston City Councilor in 2014 at the age of 29, and will be sworn in as mayor on November 16. Normally elected mayors of Boston are sworn in the beginning of January, but Acting Mayor Kim Janey agreed to a quicker transfer of power with Wu and Essaibi George.

As expected, Wu easily defeated her fellow At-Large City Councilor, by a wide margin. Unofficial Elections Department results as of Wednesday afternoon showed Wu with 91,239 votes for 63.94% of the vote, and Essaibi George with 50,879 votes or 35.65%.

After being declared the victor, Wu spoke at her election night party held at the Cyclorama in the South End. She started by saying that one of her sons asked her if boys could be Boston's mayor.

"They have been and they will be again, but not tonight," smiled Wu.

Wu campaigned on making public transportation free and more accessible to everyone, as well as a Green New Deal for the city.

After winning, she spoke about the decades ago fight that created the Southwest Corridor.

"It is where 52 years ago there was a 12 lane highway planned. They said it was a done deal and that it couldn't be stopped," said Wu. "It seemed that way until a coalition of activists across our neighborhoods stood up for people over highways."

That fight also led to more affordable housing, an MBTA Orange line, and more.

Watch her election night speech here:

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