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New Carrollton Mayor Andrew Hanko will hold on to his seat as the city's longest serving mayor while one challenger questions the campaign ethics of Hanko's supporters.

During elections Monday for the mayor's seat and two council seats, Hanko, who has been mayor for 26 years, won the mayoral race with 424 votes, compared with Councilwoman Katrina Dodro's 158 votes and challenger Jacques Chevalier's 43 votes.

Dodro was the first resident in city history to run for two seats, both the mayor's seat and her council seat. Dodro, who was unopposed for the council seat, received 424 votes to keep her council seat. Incumbent Councilman Duane Rosenberg, who also ran unopposed, received 434 votes to keep his seat.

There were 625 residents among the city's 5,770 registered voters who cast their votes Monday, city clerk Regina Robinson said. There are approximately 12,000 city residents. There were 579 residents who voted in the 2008 mayoral race, and 253 residents who voted in the 2009 election in which three council seats were up for re-election. Chevalier lost to Hanko in the 2008 mayoral race.

Hanko issued a statement Wednesday thanking the residents for allowing him to serve the city once again and the city's board of elections for the long hours they put in for running the election and counting the votes.

"Now that the election is over I intend to work diligently with the city council for the good of our beloved city, New Carrollton," Hanko wrote.

Dodro said she is proud of her campaign despite losing the mayoral race but is disappointed in the actions of others who she believed attempted to discredit her name. Dodro said she ran a fair, honest campaign with integrity and dignity.

"I talked about what I thought I could bring to the community," Dodro said. "That was the focus of my campaign. It was about building up and not about tearing down."

Dodro sent a letter to the city's board of elections contesting Monday's election, citing three actions she claimed were attempts to discredit her name. One incident was the anonymous mailing of a flier to New Carrollton households, which Robinson provided a copy of to The Gazette on April 23. The flier included the following:

"Your vote for the re-election of Mayor Andrew Hanko is very important to avoid massive changes in vital city positions and to retain the massive knowledge required to run our city during these trying budget times. Problems that were created by certain individuals (in 2008) should be avoided. Vote to re-elect Mayor Hanko. Thanks."

Hanko sent an April 23 city press release denying any connection with the mailings, citing that any literature issued by him would have an authority line with his name and address to follow the New Carrollton Election Handbook's "Fair Elections Practice Provisions" section.

"It was done without my knowledge or approval. Candidates cannot always control their supporters and, this incident illustrates that point," Hanko wrote.

Dodro said she wants a thorough investigation even though the results would stay the same.

"It's better that no one else in the future should have to go through that," Dodro said.

Chevalier, whose priorities included getting a city community center and making sure the city's black residents who lived in the apartments on 85th Avenue and Riverdale Road felt welcome in New Carrollton's single-family home section, said it was a shame that the city's black residents did not invest more into city politics and therefore enough did not come out to vote.

Chevalier said he believed many people were qualified to run for Hanko's seat and that Hanko was no more suited to be mayor than Chevalier or any other resident.

"I have to give credit to the white citizens of New Carrollton for being so devoted to the politics and they truly understand the need to exhibit civic responsibility," Chevalier said. "My hats go off to the Caucasians wholeheartedly, and I don't mean this in a sarcastic way."

E-mail Natalie McGill at nmcgill@gazette.net.

-Do you agree with moving the city election date to the first Tuesday in November in odd-numbered years?

Yes: 358

No: 252

-Do you agree that the terms of the mayor and city council be increased from two years to four years?

Yes: 278

No: 336

-Do you agree with having the mayor and city council all elected at the same election on the same date?

Yes: 420

No: 194

-Do you support a general debt obligation bond in the amount of $1,000,000 to continue reconstruction of additional streets?

Yes: 378

No: 229