Upon word of her victory, excited supporters congratulated incumbent councilwoman Stacey Korbeck-Reeder with hugs and beers.

A self-described "cautiously happy" Korbeck-Reeder stood in front of the bar in both excitement and disbelief, while a live band played inside.

"I knew that I lost, I thought I lost, and that was fine, and life was good," Korbeck-Reeder explained, shaking her head and laughing. "I heard 49 to 41, that was the original call I got, and I thought, OK, I guess I lost. I just got a call, and, OMG. Really? Wow. I'm happy I didn't call my mom and dad."

By a margin of 53 percent to 46 percent, according to the Cochise County Elections Department, only nine votes separated Korbeck-Reeder from candidate Mike Carrafa, who owns Six Gun City.

Just off Fifth and Toughnut streets, a hush fell over the Six Gun City bar as Carrafa read the results from his laptop.

"Oh well," said Carrafa, as he slowly closed the laptop and looked around the bar. "I lost."

Dejected and disappointed looks from the large gathering of supporters told a much different story than the excitement that ran through the bar just an hour before.

Lynn Barnes, treasurer and co-campaign manager for Carrafa's campaign, had announced the initial tally of 49 votes to 41 votes in favor of Carrafa, but explained that early ballots and provisional ballots still had to be counted.

Regardless, mayor-elect Jack Henderson's triumphant yell, and the bar's rousing applause and whistling seemed to point toward a certain victory for Carrafa.

"It was a good race, I thought I had it in the beginning, I thought I had it from the poll, but obviously it shows different when they did the final count," Carrafa explained, still retaining a smile on his face. "From what we understand, there's still some more uncounted, but I don't know for sure. But if she won,
congratulations."

Though the council originally looked like an almost complete overhaul after the primary election, victories by Ward 1 incumbent Steve Troncale and Korbeck-Reeder in Ward 3 now leave the council with just three new faces.

"I'm not surprised. They both ran a great campaign," said Henderson, who learned of the final results early Wednesday morning. "The exciting part that everybody forgets is that both those candidates got everyone out to vote. We've got everybody in our community interested in this new government, and that's never wrong."

Korbeck-Reeder, headed into her fourth term, is eager to work with the new mayor.

"I'm going to work with him. I want to support him," said Korbeck-Reeder. "I have to work with these people, because that's what the elections are for. We all get this variety of people to work with, and you need to do what's best for this town."

Though the result came as a shock to Carrafa, the challenger said he felt no animosity toward anyone and wished the new council well.

"They (voters) made their decision, so I can't argue with their decision," Carrafa said, hopeful that changes will still be accomplished. "There's still three guys that got voted in, and two people from the incumbents. They'll have to work together."

After a few minutes of celebration, a giddy Korbeck-Reeder smiled.

"This town means so much to me, it really does. I love this place. I've found a home, and this is it."