Groton — Town Councilor Aundré Bumgardner won the Groton City Democratic mayoral primary by five votes over Mayor Keith Hedrick, after a recount on Friday evening upheld him as the winner in Monday's primary. The vote remained 335-330, according to Registrar of Voters Kristen Venditti.

"I am honored beyond words that my fellow Democrats have chosen me to be the next mayor of our great city," Bumgardner said. "I look forward to continuing our door-to-door listening campaign through the general election and into the mayor's office. I'd like to congratulate Keith for his service as mayor and for a hard-fought race that brought many issues to the table. This vote and my campaign are demonstrations of the courage it sometimes takes to push for change, even when it might not be popular or convenient. At the end of the day, that is what democracy is all about."

"It's been a long, hard fight," said Hedrick, the city's mayor since 2017, who served as deputy mayor prior to that. "The voters have spoken, and I'm going to take the weekend off to spend with my wife."

Friday's recount, which was held at the former Fitch Middle School storage facility, comes after Bumgardner had a five-vote lead over Hedrick in Monday's primary. The 335-330 vote tally was close enough to trigger an automatic recount.

According to the state's Recanvass Procedure Manual, a recount occurs when the winning candidate has less than a 0.5% vote lead over the defeated candidate — not more than 1,000 votes in a primary — or less than a 20-vote lead. The recount will proceed, unless the defeated candidate waives the right to a recount.

Voter turnout among the city's 1,851 eligible Democratic voters in Monday's primary was about 36%, including absentee ballots.

Bumgardner, a town councilor since 2018 and a member of the city's Planning & Zoning Commission, served a term as state representative for the 41st District after being elected in 2014 as the youngest state representative in Connecticut. He most recently worked as an outreach coordinator for the state treasurer. At 26, he said he would be the youngest mayor currently serving in Connecticut and Groton City's first Black and Latino mayor.

Bumgardner said he will continue his roles as Groton Town Councilor and City Planning and Zoning Commission member for the next two months. He thanked Hedrick for his service to the city and added that he looked forward to working with him and his team for the transition to a new administration.

Hedrick, 61, became mayor of Groton City in 2017 and was re-elected to his second term in 2019. He served as deputy mayor before becoming mayor. Hedrick, who chairs the City of Groton Democratic Committee, has a background in engineering and served in the U.S. Navy and as an operations manager at URS/AECOM.

Both Bumgardner and Hedrick are former Republicans.

They both named responding to the COVID-19 pandemic as their top goal for the city.

For his other top goals, Hedrick planned to focus on economic development and the renewal of Thames Street, along with preparing the city for more Electric Boat employees and addressing parking as the company grows. Bumgardner planned to focus on seeking grants for more programs for youths and challenging climate change and committing the city completely to renewable energy by 2030.

The City of Groton Republican Committee did not endorse a slate of candidates for the city's May 3 general election. The deadline for a potential write-in candidate to register with the Secretary of the State's office would be 4 p.m. April 19.

k.drelich@theday.com