Mayor Menino Won’t Seek Reelection

Mayor Tom Menino has decided not to seek reelection at the end of his fifth term, reports former Boston Phoenix reporter David Bernstein. Several news outlets have confirmed with sources that Menino will hold an event at Faneuil Hall Thursday afternoon to announce the decision. According to the Boston Globe’s Andrew Ryan, Menino made his choice last week and has spent the days since making sure he felt comfortable with it.

A poll released this week showed that while Menino’s approval ratings remained high, people were more split on whether he should continue another term in the wake of health problems that kept him hospitalized for eight weeks last year. Political watchers have waited for months to see whether the 70-year-old mayor of nearly 20 years would call it quits. Now that he has, he closes the book on an era in Boston defined by his leadership and sets off a scramble for his replacement. Only one candidate, Councilman John Connolly, has declared so far, but several others have said they’d run should Menino decide to step aside.

Between reckoning with Menino’s legacy and watching what would have been an uncompetitive race morph into an all-out free-for-all, we’ve got some busy days ahead of us. Hold on to your seats, people.