Patrick Collins is elected mayor of Boston.

Collins (D), with 52,035 votes, defeats Thomas Hart (R), with 33,196. Turnout is 88,883 or 80.7% of those registered. The second Irish-American mayor of Boston, Collins had played down his heritage when campaigning for Charles Francis Adams for governor in 1876, declaring, “Let me say now there are no Irish voters among us. There are Irish-born citizens, like myself and there will be many more of us, but the moment the seal of the court was impressed upon our papers we ceased to be foreigners and became Americans. Americans we are; Americans we will remain.” Collins is inaugurated in the Boston Common Council Chambers on January 4, 1902. As mayor, he proves to be a fiscal conservative, preaching “caution, prudence and economy,” but is criticized for bowing to the wishes of the Board of Strategy.