Matthew Ryan, who earned his undergraduate degree at BU and taught environmental studies here, won the city mayor’s race late Tuesday night with 39.8 percent of the vote, or 863 votes.

In the race’s most surprising upset, Naima Kradjian, the Republican nominee came in a distant third, with 26.5 percent of the vote. Independence party nominee Douglas Walter Drazen, once considered a longshot candidate because of his laissez-faire platform, came in second, with 33.6 percent of the vote.

For students, Ryan’s campaign promises included several plans to alleviate the housing issue downtown, including asking parents to invest in Binghamton and meeting with landlords to improve housing. Ryan provided few details about his plans.

In the past few months, the Binghamton mayor’s race grew increasingly ugly, with allegations against each of the candidates including tax abuse (against Kradjian’s family) and sex harassment (against Ryan).

The people of Binghamton refused to let the City Council hire its own lawyer (currently, they rely on the mayor’s corporation counsel, who is directed by the mayor, for advice), required the mayor to contribute to his health insurance plan, and cut the size of the City Council by two legislators — from nine down to seven.

Ryan, 54, is one of the 11 lawyers in the Broome County Public Defender’s Office. He said he’ll improve garbage collection, and mend his relationship with the Binghamton Police Bureau, whose officers Ryan sparred with as a public defender.