Ethan Wolin, Contributing Photographer

Angel Hubbard, a Democratic organizer backed by many of New Haven’s elected leaders, beat the maverick restaurateur Miguel Pittman in a closely fought election to represent part of the Hill on the Board of Alders, per the total vote tally announced Monday night.

The count in the Ward 3 special election — incorporating ballots cast Monday at the Hill Regional Career High School and early and absentee votes — was 162 for Hubbard and 146 for Pittman. An election official told the candidates, gathered in the school gymnasium after polls closed at 8 p.m., that the sub-20 margin of victory would set off an automatic recount in the next five days.

“I am blessed,” Hubbard said when asked for her reaction to the results. She later added, “I just want to thank the community for coming out, supporting both sides. It’s a humbling experience. I’m thankful that they’re entrusting me to move forward with the vision of the ward.”

Hubbard continued, referring to her opponent and his wife Sandra, “And I just look forward to still working with the Pittmans and also on their vision.”

Monday’s special election came a month and a half after Ward 3’s previous alder, Ron Hurt, resigned following the revelation of his dismissal from a drug rehab center for a sexual relationship with a patient. Hurt appeared among Hubbard’s supporters at the polling place on Monday but declined to share whom he voted for or his response to the results.

During the short campaign, Hubbard and Pittman each canvassed extensively in the ward, where voter turnout typically ranks among the lowest in the city. Drug use, public safety and housing costs came up as priorities for the two candidates.

Mayor Justin Elicker and several alders threw their weight behind Hubbard, a Ward 3 co-chair for the Democratic Town Committee. Pittman cast himself as a community advocate untethered to New Haven’s political establishment.

Pittman told the News he had not conceded the race and would wait to comment on the outcome once the recount occurs. “At this point I’m tired, ready to go home and just chill out with the wife,” he said.

Hubbard said that, assuming the recount confirms her victory, she was not sure when she will be sworn in to the currently vacant seat. The term lasts until the end of 2025, and both Hubbard and Pittman said they plan to run again in that year’s municipal elections.

The race to replace Hurt was the second local election this year for Ward 3 — and another triumph, albeit by a far narrower margin, for a ruling Democratic apparatus allied with Yale’s UNITE HERE unions. In March, voters in Ward 3 and seven other wards rejected an effort to unseat incumbent DTC ward co-chairs including Hubbard. She did not seek UNITE HERE’s backing in the aldermanic campaign.

“There are so many people that came out in this election compared to the number that usually come out in Ward 3,” Elicker said in an interview. “I congratulate both candidates on running such a proactive and engaged race.”

The candidates arrived before sunrise on Monday to set up neighboring tents for their campaigns. Pittman also had two golf carts, adorned with posters, that he had used while canvassing. Allies of each candidate stopped by throughout the day, as the atmosphere beside the school parking lot mixed friction and friendliness.

Ward 3 resident Moses Rodriguez, a 69-year-old retired flooring salesman who voted for Hubbard, said she was the only candidate who visited his home during the campaign.

“She seemed pretty honest. At least she showed up,” Rodriguez said.

Sarina Richardson, a 41-year-old chef, said Hubbard came to her home, but that the Pittmans’ longstanding role in the neighborhood earned Pittman her vote.

“I’m not impressed by what somebody tells me they can do, when I just grew up seeing these people, seeing how they treat people, and I already know what they can do,” said Richardson, who added that she eats at the Pittmans’ popular soul food restaurant, Sandra’s Next Generation, two or three times a week.

As sunlight waned, each campaign made a final push to bring voters to the ballot box. Elicker made calls for Hubbard. Some nearby Pittman supporters took issue with the mayor’s decision to take a side, saying they had voted for Elicker but might not in the future.

Elicker told the News he spoke with residents in the opposing camp during a visit to the polling place earlier in the day. He pledged to continue addressing Ward 3 voters’ concerns about drug use and homelessness.

The Hill Regional Career High School is located at 140 Legion Ave.

Ariela Lopez contributed reporting.