In a race that was too close to call, a winner has finally emerged in the Republican primary election for Smithtown supervisor.

The Board of Elections has declared challenger Ed Wehrheim victorious over longstanding Town Supervisor Pat Vecchio.

"I am extremely gratified by the results today," says Wehrheim. "It was an extremely hard-fought primary. I anticipated it would be from the start. Supervisor Vecchio was a 40-year incumbent so it was never going to be an easy task."

Wehrheim says he wants to revitalize business districts, improve infrastructure, and make parks and recreation facilities better.

The night of the election, Wehrheim had a 39-vote lead.  The Board of Elections counted nearly 400 absentee ballots and said Wehrheim's lead more than doubled.