Former police captain Eric Adams won the race for mayor of New York easily, and Boston elected its first female and Asian American mayor.

On Tuesday, voters in both cities in the United States chose local leaders primarily defined by their views on police and crime.

Adams, who will become the country's second Black mayor, won a contested Democratic primary earlier this summer after taking a nuanced stance on police enforcement problems.

His anti-crime message and expertise as a police officer shield him from Republican opponent Curtis Sliwa, the Guardian Angels anti-crime patrol creator.

When he was a teenager, he was detained for trespassing and was beaten by police officers.

He was a prominent critic of the police force when he eventually became a cop, advocating for Black police officers and speaking out against injustices.

However, he rejected proposals from some progressives to defund the police by redirecting funds from law enforcement to social services and other initiatives that address the core causes of crime.

Wu favors a more liberal approach.

Michelle Wu advocated for a more liberal approach to policing and more significant reforms in Boston. Still, her historic victory came in a campaign dominated by arguments about topics like affordable housing.

Wu and her opponent, fellow council member Annissa Essaibi George, were the main points of contention: affordable housing, public education, and transportation.

However, the two Democratic women in the nonpartisan race had differing views on policing and crime.

Wu, a protégé of liberal Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and the daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, had called for sweeping policy changes.

Wu joined other city council members in asking for a 10% cut in the police department's budget before she ran for office.