Brad Woodside will serve record seventh term as mayor He now holds the record as the longest-serving mayor in the city's history

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It will go down in the record books.

1 of 2

Ray Bourgeois

FOUR MORE YEARS FOR WOODSIDE: Fredericton Mayor Brad woodside and his wife anne arrive at a friend’s business on the city’s north side.

RUNNER-UP: Tim andrew, who lost his bid to become mayor of Fredericton, talks to reporters Monday. WE DID IT: Frank Dunn and his wife Kaye celebrate in New Maryland.

Brad Woodside, 59, has been re-elected to an unprecedented seventh term as the mayor of New Brunswick's capital city.

Woodside collected 9,035 votes to beat his lone opponent, 70-year-old retired provincial civil servant Tim Andrew, and to hold onto his mayor's post for another four-year term.

Andrew gathered 3,707 votes. There were 38,021 eligible voters in Fredericton. Voter turnout was lower than in the 2004 election where nearly 17,000 citizens voted for the four mayoralty candidates. Only 12,868 votes were cast in the mayoralty race. That's only 34 per cent of the eligible voters in the city.

"It's pretty amazing. I'm very, very happy. Very, very pleased. It's incredible. I'm just kind of speechless," Woodside said as he arrived to meet long-time pal and Car Audio Advisors' owner Mike Betts at his northside garage.

Woodside wasn't planning a big victory bash, but opted to visit his friend of 30 years at the garage and head out with wife Anne for a feed of wings with Betts and their mutual buddies later.

Andrew, who ran to put taxation on the municipal election agenda, said he was pleased with his showing. He said his election bid forced Fredericton's mayor and council to put taxation and spending on the radar screen.

"I think I definitely focused attention on the fact that this previous council has spent too much money and imposed too much debt on us and has used excuses in raising property taxes," Andrew said, quaffing a beer at the D.J. Purdy's bar in the Delta Hotel.

The city can't control assessments, but it can control the tax rate and Andrew said citizens needed clarity on that point.

He and Woodside had few public match-ups during the election campaign. At a Fredericton Chamber of Commerce debate, however, the two men strongly disagreed on the need for a downtown convention centre complex.

During the election campaign, Woodside said while he's happy with the city's decision to construct two new sports complexes, refresh its outdoor swimming pools and commit to the downtown east-end redevelopment, he's ready to tone down city spending.

He pledged to become the "frugal mayor'' during a new four-year term and brace the city for any economic downturns.

"We're in for some tough times. The council of the last four years has invested in strategic infrastructure, spent a good bit of money ...

"We have to be very careful from this day forward to watch what we're spending and what we're doing in our budget," Woodside said.

The mayor said he believes voters accepted his record and efforts over the past four years.

"We've had unprecedented growth ... I think people here know that my heart is here and I love this city and I give it everything I've got," Woodside said.

Andrew ran a kitchen-table style campaign with few frills.

Most of his signs were about the size of a garage-sale notice on the corner of a street and Woodside responded to the low-key campaign by saving his own pennies and not going overboard with signs and election literature.

Woodside was first elected to city council in 1981.

He was elected mayor in 1986 and served five straight terms before resigning in 1999 to take a run at provincial politics.

In May 2004, he earned his record sixth term as mayor.