Nov. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Thomas Menino, who became Boston’s longest serving mayor in July, won an unprecedented fifth term to what the 66-year-old Democrat frequently calls the “best job in America.”

Menino, the city’s first mayor of Italian-American descent, received 56 percent of the vote with more than three-quarters of the precincts reporting to defeat city councilor Michael Flaherty, according to unofficial election results. The incumbent, who ran on a campaign of “Moving Boston Forward,” trumped his opponent from South Boston after raising at least $2.3 million to Flaherty’s $1.1 million, according to the state Office of Campaign Finance.

“The one number that jumps out at me is that 60 percent of likely voters say that they’ve personally met him,” said David Paleologos, director of the Suffolk University Political Research Center. “Boston’s a big city; to have that dynamic sort of trumps everything else. The connection is personal.”

The mayor promised to build on his success lowering the crime rate, keeping the city’s finances in line and laying the groundwork for economic growth. Flaherty, 40, campaigned on a theme of change and tried to capitalize on a probe of the administration by the secretary of state and state attorney general for deleting e-mails. Public records law requires they be kept for at least two years.

Menino threatened to fire 565 teachers in March as he sought to close a $131 million budget deficit, forcing the city’s unions to make concessions. Boston’s unemployment rate was 8.8 percent in September, below the statewide rate of 9.3 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Victory Speech

“Thank you Boston, thank you for giving us four more years,” Menino said in a victory speech made about 90 minutes after polls closed at 8 p.m. in the city.

Menino first took office in 1993 after Raymond Flynn was appointed ambassador to the Vatican by President Bill Clinton.

Clinton, a Democrat, taped a message endorsing Menino this year that was delivered to voters in the final days of the campaign through automated telephone calls. Flynn endorsed Flaherty, who was the runner-up to the mayor in a preliminary election held in September.

Menino made history with today’s election, exceeding Democrat Kevin White who served four consecutive terms from 1968 to 1984. James M. Curley also served four terms, none of them consecutively, between 1922 and 1950. Curley vacated the office briefly in his final term after being jailed.

The mayor’s tenure has been marked by an absence of corruption and scandal, according to Thomas O’Connor, a Boston College professor. “He’s not running off with any women, and, as far as we know, not taking any graft, and everybody likes his wife,” said O’Connor, author of The Boston Irish: A Political History.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael McDonald in Boston at mmcdonald10@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 3, 2009 21:50 EST