Portland's gay mayor Sam Adams was sworn in at 12:01 a.m. New Year's Day, making the city the largest in the country with an openly gay mayor.

Adams was elected to replace the city's outgoing mayor Tom Potter in May but was finally sworn in for the New Year.

 About 40 people attended the swearing in ceremony, including Adams' partner Peter Zuckerman, according to The Oregonian.

Adams sexuality never factored into his race for mayor but his would-be rival in the campaign, gay real estate developer Bob Ball, attempted a smear campaign against him accusing Adams of an encounter with an underage intern. Ball's attempts to besmirch Adams failed.

"My passions for public service includes promoting social justice, equality for all, but it obviously also includes finding good jobs for people, which is also part of my family's background of not being able to always have economic security, " Adams told the Associated Press. "Being gay is part of me, so is being Irish-American, so is being from a small Oregon town."