It was a night of a steady back and forth battle for Chris Spearman in an unpredictable mayoral election.

In a neck and neck race with ultimate winner, Rajko Dodic, Spearman and his supporters were kept on the edge of their seats with the intensity filling the room with every higher tally Spearman received.

As Spearman passed Cheryl Meheden for second place, the mood was one of both great surprise and excitement.

When Spearman edged ahead of Dodic mid-way through the night, the room erupted into loud, cheering and applause.

Several supporters were eager to see that Spearman could win, and a change would be made.

At this point Spearman nervously paced throughout the crowd, mingling with supporters and anxiously waited for the rest of the results.

Almost three quarters through the results, Dodic and Spearman were no more than 10 votes apart, and anticipation could be felt throughout the room.

It was coming down to the wire, and things were looking up for Spearman, but soon Dodic regained and kept the lead until the very end.

“It’s not over until it’s over,” Spearman said in good spirits, followed by the clapping from his supporters.

Towards the end of the polling, Spearman stayed positive as he went to and from different media sources talking about how he felt the campaign went.

In the end Dodic finished with 6,170 votes, Spearman with 5,962, and Meheden in third with 5,188 total votes.

The band, Dave McCann and the Firehearts, started playing soon after the election results with every one of Spearman’s supporters staying positive despite his loss.

“My campaign ran the way I wanted it to, I have no regrets,” Spearman said.

Spearman had many supporters come out to be by his side for the election, from his official agent Yvonne Clarke to his daughter Jennifer Parker and soon to be fourth grandchild.

No matter the results, Spearman said he wanted to thank every one of his supporters, and those who helped him throughout his campaign.