Bridget Maniaci defeated former Ald. Brenda Konkel in the District 2 election Tuesday by a total of a mere 62 votes.
Maniaci won 52 percent of the total 1,862 votes with 962 ballots. Konkel lost in the close race with 48 percent of the District 2 votes.
Maniaci, UW graduate student and former intern for Mayor Dave Cieslewicz, held her watch party at Supreme Pizza Tuesday night. She expressed her excitement over the win and said she looks forward to working with other alders on issues in the next coming weeks.
My first step is to sit down with many individuals involved with current proposals and city staff in all the different departments to really get caught up on the current issues,"" Maniaci said.
Maniaci said she already spoke with District 8 victor Bryon Eagon after the results were posted about possible partnerships. Maniaci said her first duty in office will be to help pass former District 8 Ald. Eli Judge's downtown lighting initiative.
""My first step will be getting Eli Judge's downtown lighting initiative functioning, because right now it's still only on paper, and it hasn't gotten worked out yet,"" Maniaci said.
Konkel, who will be replaced by Maniaci, met with her supporters at Avenue Bar on East Washington to learn the election results. After tearfully announcing she lost by only 62 votes, Konkel received a standing ovation from the crowd.
""My tears are almost overwhelmed by this group's support,"" Konkel told her backers at Avenue Bar.
Konkel is trying to stay positive about the loss of her position city council and is looking forward to more time for other endeavors.
""This obviously gives me a lot more time to return to the things I love the most which is community activism around the issues that are important to me and organizing in the community,"" Konkel said.
Konkel also wished Bridget ""the best of luck on the council,"" and advised her to ""stay strong and be your own person.""
