Signs advocating for and against a late-term abortion ban outside a voting site in Albuquerque, N.M., on Tuesday. Juan Antonio Labreche/AP

In a closely watched, first-of-its-kind municipal election, voters in New Mexico's largest city have defeated a proposed ban on late-term abortions.

Voters in Albuquerque on Tuesday rejected the measure 55 to 45 percent, following an emotional and graphic campaign that brought in national groups and hundreds of thousands of dollars in advertising. The campaign included protests that compared abortion to the Holocaust and displayed pictures of aborted fetuses.

A coalition of groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico and Planned Parenthood, called the results a huge victory for Albuquerque women and families.

"Albuquerque families sent a powerful message today — they do not want the government interfering in their private medical decisions," Micaela Cadena, of the Respect ABQ Women campaign, said in a statement.

"Dangerous, unconstitutional laws like the one we rejected today have no place in Albuquerque, no place in New Mexico, no place anywhere in our nation," she added.

Activists on both sides of the issue said it was the first municipal ballot measure on the matter, which is usually debated at the state and federal levels. Abortion opponents had hoped that a victory in Albuquerque would create momentum in their long-running fight to ban late-term terminations.

Father Frank Pavone, national director of the New York-based Priests for Life, said Tuesday night that anti-abortion activists should not be discouraged.

"It is a brilliant strategy, and we will see to it that this effort is introduced in other cities and states," he said in a statement.

"The fact is, of course, that children have in fact been saved through this effort, simply because we have raised the issue of fetal pain, which does not even cross the minds of many abortionists."