UPDATE: By the numbers: How Ravi Bhalla became N.J.'s first Sikh mayor

HOBOKEN -- City Councilman Ravi Bhalla has emerged victorious in the six-person mayoral race, becoming the first Sikh mayor of the Mile Square City -- and the state of New Jersey.

Bhalla, an Indian-American born in New Jersey, was endorsed by current Mayor Dawn Zimmer, who in a surprising decision announced she would not seek a third term in office.

Bhalla, who serves on the City Council, claimed the victory at Moran's Pub on Garden Street surrounded by dozens of his supporters, as well as his friends and family.

"Thank you for having faith in me, for having faith in our community, faith in our state, and faith in our country; this is what America is all about," he told the packed bar. "We've been through a bruising campaign... but now is the time we come together and see who we can work with to bring this city forward."

He bested a six-person field of challengers that included council members Michael DeFusco and Jennifer Giattino, as well as Hudson County Freeholder Anthony Romano.

In the race for three at-large seats on the City Council, two members of Bhalla's slate -- James Doyle and Emily Jabbour -- were victorious, while DeFusco team member Vanessa Falco was also elected, according to the unofficial election results.

The race for City Hall took a turn this week when doctored campaign fliers began circulating attacking Bhalla with the message "Don't let TERRORISM take over our town!" above a picture of the Sikh mayoral candidate wearing a turban.

The wide-open campaign that kicked off in June with Zimmer's announcement quickly turned into heated race, with Romano's campaign manager, Pablo Fonseca, calling the race "ugly" and "divisive."

The fliers appeared to have been a modified version of a mailer from DeFusco's campaign, alleging Bhalla had a conflict of interest. The councilman condemned the fliers in a statement, saying his campaign had nothing to do with them.

Hoboken police released video footage last week showing two unidentified "persons of interest" holding stacks of papers, presumably the fliers.

Phil Swibinski, a campaign spokesman for DeFusco, said DeFusco conceded defeat in a speech to supporters at his campaign headquarters at around 10 p.m. and offered his congratulations to Bhalla.

In a brief interview Tuesday evening, DeFusco said he fell just short of being elected Hoboken's first openly gay mayor, despite the only candidate to be attacked by everyone else in the race.

"And yet we still challenged a 9-year administration and lost by a couple hundred votes," DeFusco said, insisting that Bhalla's narrow margin of victory means he would have to govern by consensus. "I look forward to working with Mayor-elect Bhalla, but he by no means has a mandate."

NJ Advance Media reporter Steve Strunsky coontributed to this report.

Corey McDonald can be reached at cmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @coreymacc. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.