CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Brad Wenstrup stood before his supporters at the Boathouse Tuesday night and said he was proud of the job they did.
"While we didn't emerge from this contest with a victory in terms of the number of votes," Wenstrup said, "we've earned for ourselves a place at the table and a voice that must be heard. We answered a call to serve at a time when our city needed it, but the need has not yet been met and the call to serve remains."
The 51-year-old Republican is a major in the U.S. Army Reserves who served a tour of duty in Iraq.
While there, in 2005 - 2006, he served as chief of surgery at Abu Ghraib prison hospital.
Dr. Wenstrup is a podiatrist and a partner with Wellington Orthopedic and Sports Medicine.
This was his first run for office.
He ran a low-key campaign. Public debates and forums with Mayor Mark Mallory were free of any heated exchanges.
In the final two weeks of the campaign though, he stepped-up the criticism of the incumbent mayor.
In TV ads and mailings, he hammered Mallory on his many trips around the country, and challenged Mallory's claim that Cincinnati is a safer city now than it was four years ago.
The candidates differed on two major issues: Wenstrup is against streetcars, while Mallory supports the plan to run streetcars from Over-the-Rhine to Clifton.
And, Wenstrup earned an endorsement from the FOP after siding with the police in the ongoing budget battle over possible police layoffs.
Mallory, on the other hand, was willing to cut cops to balance the budget.
Wenstrup knew he had an up-hill battle going into this campaign.
Cincinnati hasn't had a Republican mayor in about three decades, not since Ken Blackwell in 1980.
But Wenstrup's strong showing at the polls against the well-known Mallory name, in a city where Democrats outnumber Republicans 3 to 1, surprised many.
After conceding Tuesday night, Wenstrup said he wasn't ruling out a future run for office.
