| Election Name: | 1997 Boston mayoral election |
| Country: | Boston |
| Type: | Presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Election: | 1993 Boston mayoral election |
| Previous Year: | 1993 |
| Election Date: | November 4, 1997 |
| Next Election: | 2001 Boston mayoral election |
| Next Year: | 2001 |
| Image1: | Mayor Thomas M. Menino (15649592926) (b).jpg |
| Candidate1: | Thomas Menino |
| Party1: | Nonpartisan candidate |
| Popular Vote1: | 48,323 |
| Percentage1: | 71% unopposed |
| Mayor | |
| Before Election: | Thomas Menino |
| After Election: | Thomas Menino |
The Boston mayoral election of 1997 occurred on Tuesday, November 4, 1997. Incumbent Thomas Menino ran unopposed, and was re-elected to his second term;[1] he received 71 percent of the vote.[2] Menino only faced write-in opposition.[3] This was the first time an incumbent mayor of Boston faced no opposition on the ballot in a general election since 1834.
Ahead of the election, four little-known individuals had declared their candidacy for mayor. None managed to collect the 3,000 valid signatures needed to qualify for the ballot, leaving Menino without an opponent on the ballot.[4] Reasons dissuading more substantial opponents might have been the large campaign funding reserves Menino had and his great popularity, with a 1997 approval poll giving him a 74% approval rating.[5]