Mayor Mark A. Lauretti retained his title for the 12th time by as many as 5,000 votes Tuesday night, but does not know if it's a record.
"I stopped worrying about that a long time ago," Lauretti said Tuesday night.
Lauretti fended off Democratic Town Chairman David Gioiello Jr. for the second time since 2007. Lauretti said the unofficial total may have been 7,000 for him and 2,000 for Gioiello.
Gioiello said he knew it would be a tough race. "It's Shelton. It's disappointing." But, he added, "We're glad we were running. We're going to keep trying."
Gioiello campaigned on more transparent government and vowed to return his salary if taxes had to be raised in the 2014-2015 fiscal year.
He also wanted to clarify the budget process by separating the rainy day account. Gioiello said the city budgets for more money for departments than it needs then leaves open positions vacant. The excess money is then returned to the city.
He added that the mayor should not have the final say on every department decision. Lauretti needs to approve any expenditure for more than $100, a policy with which Gioiello disagreed.
Lauretti called Gioiello's arguments invalid. "That's based on the lack of factual evidence," he said.
The mayor said he plans to move forward and build on what's already been done. "There's nothing special. You just keep doing what works. You build on it. You expand on it."
But not all democrats lost Tuesday night, Gioiello noted. There are democrats on the Board of Education and on the Planning and Zoning Commission.
In particular, John "Jack" Finn retained his seat on the Board of Alderman for the 15th consecutive time, although he remains the lone democrat on the board.
Lauretti said the election results prove Shelton is in good shape. "At the end of the day, for Connecticut, this is as pretty good as it gets, [with] financial stability and job growth."
Asked about the 40 percent voter turnout, Lauretti said it may mean some voters may not have felt the need to cast ballots.
"They have other things to be worried about," such as politicians in Hartford and Washington, D.C., he said.
The mayor said tomorrow he will do "the same thing that I've done for the last 21 years: Get up and go to work."
The official results will be available Wednesday.
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