Former Manchester Alderman Joyce Craig has won the Manchester mayor's race, defeating a four-term incumbent.
Craig, a Democrat, beat Republican Mayor Ted Gatsas in the race to lead new Hampshire's largest city on Tuesday night.
"Congratulations to Mayor-elect @JoyceCraigNH and her team on a hard fought victory!" Gatsas tweeted on Tuesday night.
It was a rematch of the 2015 election, in which Gatsas defeated Craig by 54 votes. This time, Craig won with 10,861 votes to 9,290 for Gatsas.
Among her proposals, Craig advocated citywide campaign finance reform; encouraging and recommending diverse and experienced appointments to city boards; adding open dialogue at Board of Mayor and Alderman meetings once a month; and providing executive summaries and full contracts for public review.
Democrats were quick to congratulate Craig on her historic victory.
"Tonight's historic victory is bound to send shockwaves across the state," New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley said. "After 12 years of Republican control, Manchester is back in Democratic hands on the heels of electing their first woman as mayor in the city's 171 year history."
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"As the first woman to ever serve as mayor of Manchester, Joyce will lead the city she loves with the same vision and energy that she’s brought to her previous decade of public service," Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez said in a statement.
"Today, Manchester made history," New Hampshire Sen. Jeanne Shaheen said. "As the first woman elected mayor of the city, Joyce adds to New Hampshire's outstanding legacy of electing strong woman leaders. I want to congratulate Joyce on running an tremendous campaign that focused on her positive vision for Manchester, and I look forward to working with her to achieve this vision. I also want to thank Mayor Gatsas for his years of service to Manchester. I know that he'll continue to find ways to give back to the community and state that he loves."
"Congratulations to my friend, Mayor-elect Joyce Craig, on her historic election," New Hampshire Sen. Maggie Hassan added. "Joyce ran a strong campaign focused on her positive vision for moving Manchester forward, and the Queen City will be stronger thanks to her bipartisan leadership in City Hall. I look forward to working with Joyce as she fights to position Manchester to thrive in the innovation economy, improve the school system, and strengthen public safety. I also commend Mayor Gatsas for running a hard-fought campaign and for his years of service."
Manchester was just one of several New Hampshire cities holding mayoral elections on Tuesday.
Voters in a half dozen New Hampshire cities also decided to allow the electronic bingo game keno in bars and restaurants in an effort to raise money for full-day kindergarten.
Residents in Berlin, Claremont, Somersworth, Laconia, Manchester and Nashua all approved the measure. In Rochester, keno appeared to have passed by a single vote. Several other communities rejected keno: Concord, Dover and Keene.
Republican Gov. Chris Sununu signed a proposal into law in July allowing money from keno to fund kindergarten programs. He left it up to individual communities to decide whether to allow it.
Voters in Franklin already had their election on a ballot measure last month, and approved keno. Officials in Portsmouth decided against putting it on the ballot.
State lottery commission officials estimate keno could raise $443 million for education.
