For Jefferson Smith, a Pause Before Celebrating

State Rep. Jefferson Smith received two phone calls from businesswoman Eileen Brady tonight.

Smith had been holding steady in second place in the mayor's race as election results rolled in. That guaranteed him a spot in the runoff against Charlie Hales this November. It wasn't clear what Brady, who lagged well behind Smith, would do.

Smith arrived late at his party at the Bossanova Ballroom, and supporters passed the hours between vote tallies by learning Bollywood dances from DJ Prashant. Smith's first speech of the night, around 9:30 pm, was cautious. "My name is Jefferson Smith," he began, "and I might still be running for mayor."

A couple minutes before 11 pm, Brady called Smith and told him she wanted to wait until morning to concede. She wanted to wait until until the last ballot returns came in. Smith agreed not to declare victory.

About 10 minutes later, as Smith talked to TV cameras, Brady called again, this time saying she would concede tonight after all.

Smith took the stage to a diminished but raucous crowd.

"My name is Jefferson Smith, and I'm still running for mayor," he said.

Then he asked his crowd to applaud Brady, who "made sure we understood that this city needs to get to work."