campaign of Hillary Clinton, sending his own campaign workers to New Hampshire to work for her candidacy ahead of the 2008 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary. Menino spoke at the 2012 Democratic National Convention. In September 2012, he endorsed Democratic nominee Elizabeth Warren in the 2012 United States Senate election in Massachusetts. Fiscal matters Throughout Menino's tenure, the city of Boston had an operating surplus. This led Moody's Investors Service and Standard & Poor's to boost the city's bond rating a combined nine times over the course of Menino's mayoralty. Social issues Menino was a cofounder of Mayors Against Illegal Guns. Menino supported abortion rights. He also supported public funding of abortions. Menino was a supporter of gay rights. By the time he was elected mayor in 1993, Menino had already taken the public position of supporting that gay and lesbian couples be allowed to act as foster parents. At the time of his 1993 mayoral campaign, Menino took a position supporting an existing municipal executive order which allowed city employees sick leave or bereavement time in instances in which a domestic partner or other household member has taken ill or died. In 1998, Menino signed an executive order allowing domestic partners and dependents of gay, lesbian, and unmarried municipal employees to receive health benefits from the city. He was among the first mayors in the United States to extend such benefits to same-sex partners of municipal employees. Menino came out in support of same-sex marriage in 2003. At one point, Menino refused to partake in the South Boston St. Patrick's Day parade due to their exclusion of gays. In 2012, Menino headed the Mayors for Freedom to Marry effort. In 2012, Menino came out against having Chick-fil-A open restaurants in Boston, citing their opposition to same-sex marriage and what he called Boston's status as "a leader when it comes to social justice and opportunities for all." Menino would state that he knew there was little he could do as mayor to prevent the company from opening restaurants in the city, but maintained that they were not welcome in the city. Urban development During Menino's tenure, the city's total square footage of office and residential space increased by 11%, and 80 million square feet of development was constructed. Menino often faced criticism accusing him of playing "favorites" with developers.\ Between 2000 and 2010, Boston saw 20,500 new units of housing