San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said everything short of declaring victory during his re-election celebration speech Tuesday night, including thanking his opponents for entering the race despite his overwhelming approval ratings.

In front of a crowded room full of campaign volunteers and supporters at the Ferry Building in San Francisco, Newsom acknowledged the mayoral race as “anticlimactic” and offered his next term as moment of reconciliation with his critics.

According to campaign spokesman Nathan Ballard, Newsom had received 77 percent of the approximately 40,000 absentee votes as of 8:45pm.

“I’d like to thank my opponents for having the courage to actually put their names on the ballot and not sit on the sidelines and take shots,” Newsom said, “To those who may be disappointed tonight, I’m committed to working with you in the next four years.”

A handful of SF State students who volunteered for the campaign attended the celebration. Most expressed their eagerness to see the mayor do something about MUNI.

“I’m a student and I take MUNI a lot,” said Jennifer McCrea-Steele, a junior communications major. “It needs to be more on time and have better people running it.”

Mcrea-Steele, who moved to San Francisco last semester, interned for the Newsom re-election campaign.

“It’s a fun experience, I’m trying to get more involved in the city since moving here,” she said.

Mary Watts, 19, a sophomore political science major also interned with the campaign. In addition to fixing MUNI problems, she said the mayor should focus on homelessness during his next term.

“I’d like to see him tackle the homelessness situation and make sure they have the right resources are available for them,” Watts Said.

After his speech, Newsom said that he plans to concentrate on crime, particularly the increasing homicide rates, as well as the environment and quality of life issues.

“You just wait and see on the environment,” said Newsom, “I’ve been working for six months on some new environmental ideas that will reignite San Francisco.”

District 8 Supervisor Bevan Dufty made an appearance in the crowd to show his support for Newsom’s expected victory and acknowledged the mayor’s ability to overcome publicly chronicled personal issues.

“The mayor has been through a lot of rockiness over the past year, but no matter what San Franciscans have looked beyond the headlines and seem very content with the job he is doing.” Dufty said. “I look forward to him being engaged about the issues that matter.”

Matt Senekeremian, 19, a political science major, helped out during the campaign by phone banking and encouraging people to vote. He admitted it was a dull election year, but was excited to participate in a process that he said many people in other countries die for.

“It’s like a big family reunion here tonight,” Senekeremian said, “There are people here who couldn’t help out this time but helped out last time. We’re all sharing stories its kind of like a big happy family”