John B. Hynes John B. Hynes The Boston mayoral election of 1951 occurred on Tuesday, November 6, 1951, between Mayor of Boston John B. Hynes and former Mayor James Michael Curley.

This was the first Boston mayoral race with a preliminary election, which was held on Tuesday, September 25, 1951.

In November 1949, voters had approved changing the structure of future mayoral contests to include a preliminary election, non-partisan in nature, to select two final candidates in advance of each general election, which would remain non-partisan.

The first such election had been set for 1951,[1] meaning that Hynes' previous term was only two years in duration.

Inaugural exercises were held Monday, January 7, 1952.