After 20 years, longtime Boston mayor Tom Menino is stepping down. And after Tuesday, the people of Boston are one step closer to electing a pro-labor champion to follow in his footsteps.
 

Martin Walsh, longtime leader of the Boston Building Trades Council and head of Laborers (LIUNA) Local 223, topped a field of 10 candidates on Tuesday evening in a major win for Boston working families. Walsh’s campaign was buoyed by the strong support of local unions, including his local, the Greater Boston Labor Council and Working America.

In his victory speech, Walsh vowed that as mayor he would focus on rebuilding Boston’s middle class and opening up opportunities for residents. “We must decide whether Boston will be a name on a map where a few people do well, or a community of shared prosperity. We have to choose whether this city is going to open the door of opportunities for a strong middle class and those struggling to get there, or whether we will allow them to be shut out.”

The outpouring of support reflected his long history of fighting for workers’ rights. At the age of 18, Walsh followed in his father’s footsteps to become a union laborer before rising through the ranks and ultimately becoming the head of the Boston Building Trades. In 1997, he was elected to the Massachusetts Legislature as a state representative and served eight terms before announcing his run for mayor.

Walsh will face off against corporate lawyer and education reform advocate John Connolly in the Nov. 5 general election.