Election volunteers Edward Carpentier, left, and Chris Brackett work the polls at Fire Station 1 on Providence Street yesterday.

The Providence Journal / Gretchen Ertl

WOONSOCKET — Susan D. Menard won a seventh term as the city’s mayor last night, beating challenger Todd R. Brien by more than 900 votes.

Menard wound up with 4,022 votes to Brien’s 3,088, according to unofficial results from the Board of Canvassers. There were 17 write-ins.

About 35 percent of the eligible voters turned out for yesterday’s election.

Menard said she was pleased but not surprised by the results.

“It was kind of exactly where my polls showed it, “ she said.

She said with two new middle schools to be built in the city and a nine-year property revaluation approaching, there was much to do.

“I really felt an obligastion to see that through, “ she said.

The outcome became clear early at Menard’s headquarters at Kay’s restaurant, as polling place after polling place called in with majorities for the incumbent.

The trend started a few minutes after the polls closed at 9, when Fire Station 2 called in.

“Brien 94, “ intoned Bob Kulik, the keeper of the tally board. “The honorable Mayor Susan Menard, 136.”

“I think we’re dancing tonight,” he said as he shuffled across the floor.

On the City Council side, two incumbents, J. Michel Martineau and Normand J. Laliberte Jr., lost their bids for reelection. Newcomers, including former state Rep. Stella G. Brien and Christopher A. Beauchamp, joined former Councilman Roger G. Jalette Sr. in the winners circle. Incumbents Leo Fontaine, John F. Ward, Suzanne Jean Vadenais and William D. Schneck Jr. won reelection.

The election was a rematch of the mayoral race two years ago. In that race, Menard trounced Brien by more than 2,100 votes. In last month’s primary, Brien closed the gap, finishing 274 votes behind the incumbent.

Brien, 43, served in the city’s Police Department for two decades, retiring in 2006 with the rank of sergeant. He also served three terms as a Democratic state representative in the General Assembly; first winning election in 2000. He lost a bid for a fourth term last year when he was narrowly defeated in the Democratic primary by Jon Brien.

Menard, 58, was seeking her seventh term as mayor. When Brien set out to defeat her in 2005, he was the first serious challenger she had faced in years. At the time, Menard spoke of perhaps stepping aside after that election.

But she said that as her term went on, projects were beginning that she wanted to see through to the end. In particular, she cited the challenge of seeing the city build two new middle schools as well as complete a full-scale city-wide property revaluation next year.

Both Menard and Brien are Democrats. Two members of the same party can run for mayor in Woonsocket because the city runs nonpartisan primaries, with the top two finishers, regardless of party, facing off in the November election.

As Election Day wore on yesterday, voter interest seemed to be less than in 2005. The Board of Canvassers reported that as of 3 p.m., turnout was about 1,000 voters behind the pace of that 2005 race.

Brien attributed that slower turnout to the rain that pelted the city during the day, but said his supporters seemed to be on track for getting out the voters they had targeted.

Always an issue in a municipal election, the city’s finances came into sharp focus in this one after voters overwhelming approved a $78-million school bond in August. Menard said the complex and expensive job of overseeing the construction of two new middle schools required an experienced mayor in City Hall.

Brien tried to neutralize Menard’s record of few tax increases by criticizing her for what he called an overly generous Fire Department contract Menard’s administration negotiated this year. He also chided her for four double-digit water rate increases in the last eight years.

Menard discounted Brien’s criticisms, saying the water rate increase were unavoidable — mandated by state-ordered improvements in the city’s public water system. Though there were wage increases in the Fire Department contracts, Menard said she also won a concession that eliminated an expensive health plan and its low employee co-pay.

jhill@projo.com