COVINGTON — Political veteran Butch Callery used an aggressive campaign and a grass-roots organization to win Tuesday's election for mayor in Northern Kentucky's largest city.

        Mr. Callery defeated former Mayor Bernie Moorman 5,020 to 4,624, unofficial results show.

        “It's a tribute to the people of Covington,” Mr. Callery said during a celebration at the Waterfront restaurant. “They knew I had done a good job as commissioner.”

        Mr. Callery is the longest-serving commissioner in city history, having served 21 years. Mr. Moorman was a commissioner in the 1970s and mayor in the early 1980s.

        Mr. Callery, who pledged to maintain public safety personnel levels and update equipment, develop a responsive government, and reduce the number of vacant and blighted buildings, will serve a four-year term as mayor, starting Jan. 1.

        This was one of Northern Kentucky's most contentious races.

        Both of the former political allies and Covington natives cited their experience as reasons why voters should choose them.

        But Mr. Callery said it was his focus on the issues — rather than negative campaigning — that helped him win.

        “Never, in all the years that I've run, have I been involved in such a negative campaign,” Mr. Callery said Tuesday night. “My opponent was putting out a lot of negative ads and mailings. But I was running on the issues and things I wanted to do. The people of Covington knew I had done a good job as commissioner for 21 years. They looked past the negative campaigning.”

        Mr. Moorman could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.

        Mr. Callery, 59, an operations manager for a securities firm, is the longest-serving city commissioner in Covington. Recently, the La tonia resident also served as the city's vice mayor. He had the endorsement of Covington's police and firefighter unions, as well as Interim Mayor Jim Eggemeier.

        Mr. Moorman, 62, a retired chemist who owns the Amos Shinkle Townhouse bed and breakfast in the historic Licking-Riverside neighborhood, previously served as Covington mayor from 1980-83. Before that, he was a member of the Covington City Commission for six years, and he most recently served as a Kenton County commissioner.

        The mayoral election had several flare-ups, including a controversy this past weekend over an endorsement.

        Mr. Callery said that Mr. Moorman had improperly claimed an endorsement from the city's firefighters' union in newspaper ads he ran over the weekend.

        Mr. Moorman defended the ad, saying he had been told by Wayne Whalen, president of the Northern Kentucky Labor Council, that he could claim the endorsement of the firefighters because he had been endorsed by the labor council, which the firefighters union is part of. Mr. Moorman maintained the ad was accurate.

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