Incumbent Councilman Sal DiCiccio will serve another four years as the voice of east Phoenix, according to unofficial city-election results.

The race between DiCiccio and his opponent, Kevin Patterson, was closer than many expected — including the councilman himself — when initial city-election returns rolled in.

“First, I would like to thank Kevin Patterson on an excellent campaign, a race that was much closer than expected,” DiCiccio said in a statement following initial results. “I would also like to thank my wife, my family and my campaign team. And I’m looking forward to getting back to work. We’ve got a lot of big issues coming up and it’s time to dig in.”

DiCiccio led Patterson 52.61 percent to 47.39 percent, according to unofficial results posted late Tuesday night. The results include all ballots except a small number of provisional and mail-in ballots that were dropped off at the polls.

Although half the Phoenix City Council was up for re-election in Tuesday’s municipal polling, DiCiccio was the only one to draw a challenger. Jim Waring in District 2, Laura Pastor in District 4 and Kate Gallego in District 8 also will continue their roles for another four years.

Patterson, executive development director with Banner Health, took on DiCiccio, but faced an uphill battle. DiCiccio spent more than five times as much as Patterson prior to Aug. 12, the most recent campaign-finance deadline. DiCiccio also has 13 years of name recognition as a city councilman.

District 6 includes some of Phoenix’s wealthiest communities, including Arcadia and Ahwatukee Foothills. While the district leans conservative, it has elected both Republican and Democratic council members.

DiCiccio and Patterson are representative of the varying ideologies in the district.

DiCiccio is an outspoken fiscal conservative who appeals widely to the Valley’s “tea party” groups. Patterson is progressive and serves as the president of LGBT advocacy group Equality Arizona.

Although the City Council race is nonpartisan, and party affiliation was not listed on the ballot, DiCiccio and Patterson played to their respective conservative and liberal bases.

While DiCiccio won over endorsements from groups like the Greater Phoenix Chamber of Commerce, Patterson wooed liberal organizations like Planned Parenthood Advocates of Arizona.

The candidates — who also boast profoundly different personalities — butted heads along the campaign trail.

Notably, Patterson accused DiCiccio of “attempted threats and intimidation” in early July.

Patterson alleged DiCiccio’s camp reached out to his employer, Banner Health, suggesting the hospital’s non-profit status could be in jeopardy if Patterson received special accommodations during the campaign.

DiCiccio’s campaign denied the allegation and accused Patterson of dragging Banner Health into controversy for political gain.

But Election Day was civil between the two opponents.

DiCiccio, who typically is active on social media, was silent save a concise tweet and Facebook post reminding voters to hit the polls.

Patterson retweeted encouraging tweets by his supporters and shared photos of volunteers manning phone banks up until the final hours.

Although Patterson launched a sizable grass-roots effort, early results suggested it was not enough to overcome DiCiccio’s name recognition and funding advantage.

City spokesman Matt Hamada said voting went smoothly at polling locations across Phoenix.

He said a majority of ballots cast in Phoenix elections are usually mailed in prior to Election Day. Those ballots were included in the initial results released Tuesday night. Final results are expected by the end of the week.

Republic reporter Dustin Gardiner contributed to this article.

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