Mariachis and a howling crowd heralded the arrival of Mayor David Coss as he celebrated his re-election Tuesday night at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center.

The incumbent mayor walked into the Sweeney Ballroom after a clear victory in the municipal contest, along with two incumbent councilors who beat out challengers and two councilors who faced no opposition to keep their seats.

Coss got 58 percent of the citywide vote, followed by Asenath Kepler with about 34 percent and Councilor Miguel Chavez with about 8 percent, according to unofficial results released by City Clerk Yolanda Vigil about two hours after polling places closed Tuesday night.

See photos from the municipal election: http://tinyurl.com/yh27gwz

"If you work hard and you do the right thing, good things happen," he told the crowd, adding later that he appreciated his challengers who "both ran good campaigns and ... helped make our democracy stronger."

Today, the mayor said, he will sleep in, then take his time at home before making his way to City Hall to prepare for next week's City Council meeting. A swearing-in ceremony for those who won new four-year terms is planned for Monday.

Coss hugged supporters and city workers and gave a speech alongside New Mexico lieutenant governor and gubernatorial candidate Diane Denish at what could have doubled as a labor rally or Democratic Party convention. Kepler, meanwhile, appeared at a small gathering in a back room at La Fonda.

"You are never surprised in an election because it is very difficult to tell exactly how (vote totals) are going to shake out," she said in an interview as she headed toward the door, noting that the loss "will make a difference in terms of how the governing body moves forward, because if you look at the numbers, there are a lot of people represented in this campaign. And they will have to pay attention to that."

Kepler also commented on a low voter turnout.

"I think people are tired or worried and they are perhaps not as confident in the democratic process as they should be," she said. "I am hoping that that will change in the future."

About 27 percent of registered voters cast ballots in the incumbent-dominated election. The highest turnout was reported in the north-side District 1, where about 31 percent of voters made choices that included deciding a three-way race for a council seat. District 3, which typically has the lowest turnout in citywide elections and where the council incumbent was unopposed, had the fewest voters with about 21 percent of those registered.

In the 2006 mayoral election, 30 percent of registered voters cast ballots, compared to 39 percent turnout in the 2002 mayor's race.

Coss, 55, went into the contest with citywide name recognition from a full term as a city councilor and then hundreds of public appearances during his first four years as mayor. Polls commissioned by The New Mexican and by his campaign showed him with a comfortable lead throughout the election cycle.

Coss counted on the help of 300 campaign volunteers and a handful of paid workers from both Santa Fe and Albuquerque who made about 12,000 phone calls, he said.

Among those workers was Signe Lindell, a Planning Commission member who campaigned both for Coss and for incumbent District 1 council winner Chris Calvert. She held signs outside polling places and then ran around late Tuesday collecting vote tallies.

"It is so fun to win! I just had a blast today," she beamed as she visited City Hall to watch a few minutes of a live radio broadcast under way from the council chambers.

Lindell said Coss has "a way of uniting people" and "a calmness that is attractive in these hard times."

Martin Luján, a city worker who has also run for council twice and who this time worked with unopposed District 3 Councilor Carmichael Dominguez, said he thought the sweep by incumbents pointed to huge economic hurdles for challengers in trying to raise campaign money, but also indicates that "the city is on a good path."

Kepler, 58, a registered Republican with a background in law, banking and insurance, is best known for her tenure as city manager in 2006, a job from which she was fired by the governing body early in the Coss administration. She had support from the city firefighter and police unions and received an unorthodox "membership" endorsement from current leaders of the city branch of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, which officially had endorsed Coss before the change in leadership.

Although she promised to "keep working in the community," Kepler said she will do so "from the private sector."

Chavez, 55, who was unavailable for comment late Tuesday, has two years remaining on his council term as a representative of the southwest-side District 3.

Election results are unofficial until verified by the city clerk through a canvass process set for completion by the end of the day on Friday.

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.
Note: An earlier version of this story gave the wrong age for Coss.