Gray defeated two-term Mayor Charlie Smithgall by more than 1,300 votes. Riding into office on the same political wave were Democratic City Council candidates Louise B. Williams, Jose Urdaneta, Kendra J. Saunders and Tim Roschel. Democrats Craig Lehman and D. Holbrook Duer were elected city controller and city treasurer, respectively.

The victory swept Republicans out of City Council and will leave Democrats in charge of Lancaster for at least the next four years.

So what brought about the categorical upset?

State Rep. Mike Sturla, a Lancaster city Democrat, said there was no "kingmaker" -- no one person who pulled the victory together. Rather, he said, the party simply ran a winning campaign of change and hope.

Greg Paulson, chief of city Democrats, concurred. He said the victory can be attributed to several factors, including a slate of strong candidates, a lot of planning, good organization and "volunteers who just kept cooking, even on Election Day."

"We followed through with our plan and followed through with our message that it's time for a change," Paulson said.

Gray said he feels the voters saw him and his ideas as a "positive change and positive solutions to problems in the city." Gray, a defense attorney, also said the Smithgall campaign hurt itself through "negative campaigning" by accusing him of defending puppy mill owners in court.

Gray suspects Smithgall and Republican City Council members might have been victims of a growing unrest with incumbents.

"I had one person tell me while I was going door to door that he would vote for me specifically because I was not an incumbent," Gray said.

Paulson said Republicans must shoulder some of the blame for their misfortune. He said pro-Smithgall signs were seldom posted beside signs for GOP City Council members, and that of all the signs in the window at Smithgall's campaign headquarters on North Queen Street, only two supported council President Steve Diamantoni. The rest were Smithgall signs.

In debates, Paulson said, City Council members seemed to distance themselves from the mayor.

"They were not running as a team," Paulson said.

Sturla said Smithgall did good things during his eight years in office, such as help to bring Clipper Magazine Stadium and Binns Park to Lancaster. But he said some of Smithgall's decisions came at a price.

"Look at the list of things Charlie claims to have gotten done," Sturla said. "Most took things off the tax rolls, so taxes go up."

Sturla said Smithgall built on the positive foundation left him by former Mayor Janice Stork, and he hopes Gray will build off the positive things Smithgall leaves behind.

Republican City Councilman Luis Mendoza, who challenged Smithgall for the mayor's job in the May primary and lost, said Tuesday's election sent a clear message.

"The people said they are tired of Charlie's style of government, of his arrogance and the way he treats people who disagree with him," Mendoza said. "They want a breath of fresh air, new blood, new ideas and new faces to bring the community together."

Mendoza spent Election Day cruising the city and carrying voters to their polling places in a rented school bus hung with a sign that read: "Conservative Republicans Against Charlie Smithgall."

Mendoza said his Republican colleagues on council -- Diamantoni, Gene Duncan and Harry Stoltzfus -- lost because they had become "part of the machine, part of the game, and they suffered the consequences."

Sturla disagreed to an extent. He said the GOP council incumbents had recently begun questioning Smithgall's policies, but it was "too little, too late."

With victory in hand, Gray now turns his attention to the job ahead.

"The main thing I have to do is 'do right,'"ˆ" Gray said. "We ran on a platform. We were specific about the things that we planned to do. We intend to do what we said."

Paulson foresees Lancaster becoming a "participatory democracy," where "everybody will have a say in what happens."

"Anybody affected by any legislation or policy will be at the table talking about it before it is implemented," Paulson said. "People will hold Rick to that, and he wants to be held by it."