BROCKTON, Mass. (AP) - City Councilor Linda Balzotti has
defeated incumbent Brockton Mayor James Harrington.

Balzotti will become the first woman to lead the southeastern
Massachusetts city.

Unofficial returns from Tuesday's election gave Balzotti about
56 percent of the vote to 43 for Harrington.

The incumbent told supporters he would do what he could to help the new mayor.

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BOSTON (AP) - Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has won an
unprecedented fifth consecutive four-year term.

Menino held off a challenge from City Council President Michael Flaherty. Menino already has been in office for 16 1/2 years -longer than any mayor in the city's history.

Flaherty had run in an unusual partnership with City Councilor
Sam Yoon. Flaherty, a lifelong resident of South Boston, had vowed to make Yoon, a community organizer of Korean descent, his deputy mayor had won.

History shows it's tough to unseat a Boston mayor. No incumbent
has lost the seat in 60 years. The last one was James Michael
Curley, who was ousted by John Hynes in 1949 after a term that was interrupted by a five-month federal prison sentence for mail fraud.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)