DELRAY BEACH, Fla. — Shelly Petrolia will remain mayor of Delray Beach.
Petrolia narrowly edged out challenger Tracy Caruso in Tuesday's municipal election to win a second term as mayor.
RELATED: Complete election results
Unofficial results showed that Petrolia defeated Caruso by just 157 votes with all precincts reporting.
And there we go: Shelly Petrolia will stay Mayor of Delray. She wins by 157 votes. @WPTV https://t.co/CEtBS0UAgc pic.twitter.com/ckmIm9q8pn
— Miranda Christian (@MirandaWPTV) March 10, 2021
Caruso, who is the wife of state Rep. Mike Caruso, R-Delray Beach, currently chairs the Delray Beach Historic Preservation Board, which serves in an advisory capacity to city commissioners.
Petrolia was first elected mayor in 2018, after spending the previous five years as a city commissioner.
"As a city, we really have to come together," Petrolia told WPTV's Miranda Christian hours before the polls closed.
Caruso's campaign painted Petrolia as the "divisive and vindictive" mayor who ruled with an iron fist and sat on the dais during two city controversies -- the removal of George Gretsas as city manager and the contaminated water that was making residents sick.
But not even the support of four former mayors, including Rita Ellis -- the first woman elected mayor in Delray Beach history -- and the city's former chief financial officer Jack Warner, who endorsed Caruso on the eve of the election, could carry Caruso past Petrolia.
In a letter to Delray Beach voters via Petrolia's campaign email blast, Warner said he supported Petrolia in 2018 and "had high hopes for her."
"Rather than becoming a unifying leader, she has been a divisive force on the commission," he wrote. "Her former willingness to stand alone when she was right has metastasized into a mean-spirited disdain and disrespect for anyone who opposed her, even when she was wrong."
Indeed, although Petrolia received endorsements from the South Florida SunSentinel and the Palm Beach Post, both noted her combative personality.
"I think that all of us are going to hold all of them accountable," Caruso said after learning of the results. "I think that that's what this race shows, that they're not going to get away with what they've been doing."
Meanwhile, both city commissioners seeking another term won re-election.
Ryan Boylston defeated Mitch Katz, a former commissioner who lost his seat to Boylston in the 2018 election.
Adam Frankel defeated Price Patton, who worked for the Palm Beach Post and was a founding partner of the Coastal Star community newspaper.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
