Ald. Bridget Maniaci, District 2, retained her seat by defeating UW-Madison graduate student Sam Stevenson in Tuesday night's election.
Maniaci, who received 51.7 percent of the vote, said she was happy to be able to continue her position on the city council.
""I'm feeling fantastic,"" Maniaci said.
Explaing why she defeated Stevenson, Maniaci cited her experience living in District 2 and the insight it provided.
""I think I ran a fantastic campaign that was very positive, and I think at the end of the day I understood the dynamics of my district better than he did,"" Maniaci said. ""I think having lived in the district for four years, I had a better perspective on where residents stood.""
Having served on City Council since 2009, Maniaci plans to focus on what she has in the past, as well as deal with upcoming budget cuts to the city.
""I think my top priorities are to make sure that the items that are most important to our district are not cut in the budget,"" she said. ""A large priority for me will be getting the East Washington corridor off the ground … In a legislative field I fully intend to continue to spearhead my efforts on the housing committee for tenant advocacy.""
Disappointed by his loss, Stevenson said he would have made a better alder than Maniaci.
""I think she's a nice person and we have similar taste in music,"" Stevenson said. ""But I think that I would be a much, much better alder than she will be in the next few years.""
Stevenson plans to keep a close eye on how Maniaci performs based on the topics that came up during the campaign.
""I plan on paying a lot of attention to the issues that were raised in this campaign and working in my neighborhood to further those issues,"" Stevenson said.
