CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Cleveland voters gave Mayor Frank Jackson a historic victory Tuesday, electing him to an unprecedented fourth 4-year term in office.

Jackson outdistanced Zack Reed, the councilman from the city's southeast side for 16 years. Unofficial returns from the Cuyahoga County Board of elections, with 100 percent of the vote counted, showed Jackson capturing 59 percent of the vote. Reed had 41 percent.

Reed conceded just before 11 p.m., and Jackson then appeared before his supporters to announce the victory.

He thanked his family for their support and his campaign staff for their efforts. Lastly, he thanked the people of Cleveland - supporters and those who didn't agree with him - for their insights.

"I really appreciate the conversations and the interactions I had out there with the people," Jackson said. "They gave me a new education - a new education about governing, about what it means to serve and about the pain and the suffering that people go through.

"It's our responsibility to relieve that pain and suffering and to create an environment where they and their families can have prosperity and quality of life and just plain peace," Jackson said. "The work is not done."

Jackson started the evening with a lead given to him by absentee voters. Throughout the evening he maintained an advantage hovering around 60-40 percent.

In the final tally, the mayor led Reed by more than 11,000 votes.

In his concession speech, Reed said he and his campaign were unable to slay the "big giant."

"We found out a lot about this city, we found out a lot about the people in this city," Reed said. "But we must face the reality that you have to get more than one vote than the other person and we didn't do it. We're going to move on."

He said he was glad his campaign was able to shine a spotlight on the issues of crime and violence.

"We have at least alerted the people in the city of Cleveland that violence and safety have to be looked at and have to be addressed," Reed said. "My hope, my wish and my desire will be over the next few weeks, months and years that we will stop this violence in the city of Cleveland."

Councilman Jeff Johnson, who finished third in the mayoral primary, was less gracious.

"For them a win is a win so congrats to Jackson & cohorts for winning by any means necessary. Obscene $$, lies & deceptive tactics," he posted to Twitter.

The victory was the second closest for Jackson in his four mayoral runs. He beat incumbent Jane Campbell 55 percent to 45 percent in 2005. In 2013, he beat Ken Lanci 66 percent to 34 percent. His largest margin of victory came in 2009, when he claimed 77 percent of the vote, beating Bill Patmon by 55 percentage points.

At the close of this term, Jackson will match Michael R. White as the longest serving mayor in Cleveland history. With his fourth term, he will claim that title for himself.

But it wasn't an easy run. And Tuesday evening Jackson was upbeat about his success at the polls.

This election presented Jackson with his stiffest test, with eight other candidates crowding the September primary ballot. And while he captured more than 38 percent of the vote in that contest, Reed proved to be an effective campaigner.

During the primary and general election campaigns, Jackson's opponents targeted him for the blighted condition of some city neighborhoods, particularly on the East Side. They chided the mayor, saying he had not done enough to address crime, poverty and unemployment while focusing too much on the downtown.

Reed made safety his key issue, at times promising to add 400 police officers and putting a spotlight on the 100-plus homicides that have occurred this year in the city.

Jackson pitched a more upbeat message about Cleveland, talking about how far the city has come during his tenure. He described Cleveland as having a bright future, but not one that is guaranteed.

And he argued he was the best person to lead Cleveland ahead.

The city weathered a deep recession and cuts in funding from state government without having to lay off employees. This year, with new revenue from an income tax hike approved last November by voters, the city is expanding services.

The downtown and some other neighborhoods, particularly on the West Side, are thriving.

The challenge for the next four years, Jackson says, is to extend that prosperity to all of Cleveland.

Toward that end, Jackson has initiated plans to address neighborhood violence and to encourage development along some of the city's more challenged corridors.