Linda Thompson made history in Harrisburg, becoming the first female and first African American to win the position of Harrisburg mayor.
The City Council president, was declared the winner with 55 percent of the votes. Republican opponent, Nevin Mindlin took 45 percent of the votes.
Thompson celebrated her victory at the Harrisburg Hilton. She says her first order of business will be focusing on the city's debt problem with the incinerator. Thompson says she's confident partnerships will be the key to a solution, "I'm optimistic about relationships with County Commissioners, City Council, the Harrisburg Authority, that we'll finally sit at the table and begin to move solutions forward."
After she won the primaries, Thompson was considered the front runner for the election. Most people would agree, her campaign was the most heavily scrutinized and criticized. Thompson says, "We have to stay focused on issues. I don't have a problem being scrutinized but when there's equity in the scrutiny. I'm a big girl. It's about starting anew, moving the city forward. That's all that matters at this time."
Thompson will take office January 1st.
Even though Thompson won the night, her opponent, Nevin Mindlin and his supporters do not appear to be defeated.
With 28 of 28 precincts reporting, Linda Thompson received 4,869 votes to Mindlin's 4,027. That means for every six Linda Thompson voters there were five who voted for her Republican opponent, despite Democrats having a more than 3 to 1 registration edge in the Capital City.
Mindlin called to congratulate Harrisburg's new mayor-elect just before 10:00 pm Tuesday, minutes before he addressed the crowd gathered inside of Ceolta's Irish Pub on Second Street.
"Let's go forward together," Mindlin said. "Thank you from the bottom of my heart... for all of you who have opened your hearts and all of your energies to something so wonderfully, wonderfully powerful. Let's all just keep working together because we've got it," Mindlin said as he raised his arms in praise. And with that, the crowd returned his thanks with applause.
After his speech, Mindlin told CBS 21 News that he is excited about what he has seen happen in Harrisburg since the May primary.
"I think the people have gotten their voice back," Mindlin said. "I think, for a long time, Harrisburg has been run with a vision. But it's been the vision of one person. And I think that's what's come out of this campaign; the voice of the people in a broader sense. And that's a marvelous thing to have occurred."
Mindlin vowed to stay involved in the city's political scene, and said he looks forward to working with Linda Thompson and her administration in the future.
"I'm not going to step away from it now," Mindlin said. "I think we need to find a way, as I indicated, to harness the power of community. I want to be a part of that. I want to organize it and I want to make it a presence. And I think there's a lot that we can do together."
