An unopposed Boston Mayor Wu celebrates re-election victory

Michelle Wu, Boston’s first female and first Asian American mayor, will officially stroll into her second four-year term.

A progressive Democrat whose national profile climbed as she criticized the Trump administration’s claims about violent crime in Boston and its blitz to arrest immigrants, Wu ran unopposed for the top of the ticket in Tuesday’s sleepy election. She had trounced her main opponent, nonprofit leader Josh Kraft, in the September preliminary election.

The 40-year-old mother of three celebrated her victory alongside family, several political allies and supporters in the Seaport at the restaurant Grace by Nia.

Speaking with reporters, Wu said she will continue to focus on "the big priorities we know matter for families."

"We want Boston to be the hub of the universe's talent, the best city for families, the safest city, the greenest city, a place where people from all around the world with big ideas continue to come as they have for 400 years to help make sure that our future is the brightest that it can possibly be," she said.

Wu’s commanding victory comes as Boston faces a set of challenges, both at home and at the federal level. As President Trump continues to rail against cities with Democratic mayors, Wu must both defend city policies and manage shrinking city revenues.

Back in March, Wu received plaudits after tangling with a Republican-led House panel over Boston’s “Trust Act,” which limits how local police work with federal immigration authorities.

On Tuesday night she lashed out at Trump: "That is what this election was about here in Boston. Not just how we lead, but what we believe. Whether we believe that wealth should buy power — we don't. Whether experience matters — it does. That's right. And most of all, whether we will bow to a criminal who acts like a king."

Meanwhile, she’s under pressure to tackle the city’s affordability and housing crisis; the rising cost of White Stadium; a controversial bike lane rollout; and the ongoing addiction and homelessness epidemic linked to the city’s Mass. and Cass area.

The mayor shared the stage with at-large councilors Ruthzee Louijeune and Henry Santana, whose successful campaigns for at-large city councilor seats were backed by Wu. They and the council’s two other at-large incumbents — Julia Mejia and Erin Murphy — beat out challenges from four other contenders, including former longtime District 3 councilor Frank Baker.