And the Winner Is ... Julia Pemberton!

A crowd gathered inside the Redding Community Center lobby and the hum of calculators could be heard in the auditorium as election workers tallied the results for the 2013 municipal election.

Every few minutes voices of people anticipating the outcome went up before several shushed them. Finally the moderator let everyone in so he could read the results.

Republican first selectman candidate Chris Hocker 1,295 votes, Democrat Julia Pemberton 1,393.

After 14 years of being led by Natalie Ketcham, the torch has been passed to first selectman elect Julia Pemberton.

"I'm overwhelmed," Pemberton said. "We ran a great campaign. Today is a great day for Redding. The community was involved. I look forward to working with everyone and doing good things for Redding."

Hocker did not receive enough votes to serve on the Board of Selectmen. Fellow Republican Michael Thompson had 1,310 votes and Leon Karvelis, a Democrat, had 1,345.

Hocker said he didn't know which way the vote would go after the polls closed.

"I always thought it would be close," he said. "The town's gonna have some challenges. Hopefully it will come together and address the issues without fighting."

Of Pemberton's victory, Hocker said, "She fought hard. Good for her. We both wanted it."

He said he looks forward to completing a two-year term on the Region 9 Board of Education.

Thompson said, "Everyone appreciated the high voter turnout. It's good for democracy."

While disappointed that Hocker didn't win, Thompson said, "I look forward to working with Julia, Leon and the rest of the elected officials. And congratulations to all the candidates."

Karvelis said, "We've got a great first selectman in Julia and I look forward to working with her and Mike Thompson. We have to work together."

Pemberton said now the hard work begins. She plans to "dive in" to the mixed use development project in Georgetown and she added that the budget process will soon be underway.

"We have a great team," she said.