She waited nearly three hours for the final word, refusing to embrace victory until the last vote was counted, until her opponent acknowledged defeat and until the media declared her the winner.
The word came at 12:55 a.m. And then Deedee Corradini, surrounded by stalwart supporters who stood by her through the night, accepted the reward of a long, hard campaign: a second term in office."They don't call me the comeback kid for nothing," Corradini told the cheering crowd gathered at the Holiday Inn.
Indeed, Corradini turned around a second-place finish in the primary to reclaim the mayor's seat - never mind that it came with a mere 2 percentage-point victory margin.
"I said all along, `All it takes is one vote.' We made it. That's all that counts," a jubilant Corradini said.
According to the final but unofficial vote tally, Corradini beat challenger Rich McKeown by a 51 percent to 49 percent margin, or a mere 527 votes. Forty-five percent of the city's registered voters cast ballots in the election.
Although the vote margin is narrow, a recount is unlikely. The margin has to be fewer than 143 votes - the number of voting districts in the city - to trigger an automatic recount. If McKeown wants a recount, he'll have to pay for it.
McKeown was philosophical but also a bit stunned by his loss.
Addressing his supporters, McKeown said his campaign "made history in Utah and Salt Lake politics. We stood (the establishment) on its head - to think that an unknown person could have come from zero (in the polls). I believe I could have been a good leader," he said.
And a supporter in the back of the room yelled: "You are!"
"I'm staggered by your support. This has been a glorious experience, a grand effort by you all," McKeown said as he hugged his wife, Barbara.
"That's one (win) for the good guys," Jazz owner and local auto dealer Larry Miller told Corradini moments after she received the final numbers.
Corradini attributed her win to a strong performance in scads of debates with McKeown, her first-term record and the voters' desire for continuity.
"I think what put us over the top is voters had to make a choice, and they made a choice because they realized we do know where we're going in this city. We have a vision for where we're going. We know how to get things done, and we need continuity right now," Corradini said.
Former Salt Lake Mayor Ted Wilson, who served as co-chairman of Corradini's campaign with former Republican senator and mayor Jake Garn, credited the mayor with staying focused in the final month of the race.
"I think it was a remarkable comeback for a mayor who was so embattled," Wilson said. "It was a race that finally turned on the issues."
The challenge that now faces Corradini is to rally the city around her, remain open and accessible - and deal with any further Bonneville Pacific fallout head on, Wilson said.
In his campaign, McKeown made a point about Corradini's business dealings with the bankrupt alternative-energy firm, stressing his integrity and openness.
In her victory speech, Corradini paid tribute to McKeown for waging a tough race.
"We both fought hard, and I would like to compliment him on the race he ran," said Corradini, who became the city's first woman mayor in 1991.
Her second win seemed at hand shortly after 11 p.m. when, with 93 percent of the vote in, Corradini confidante Don Leonard whispered in her ear that she led challenger Rich McKeown by about 600 votes.
Corradini burst into tears as her parents, Horace and Marie-Louise McMullen, embraced and kissed her. And then she waited for the final numbers.
It proved to be a much longer wait than anyone expected.
An errant east-side election judge carted two ballot boxes home, forcing the Salt Lake County clerk's office to send a scout out searching for the missing votes. When the boxes arrived, the clerk's office discovered ballots from the two districts had been mingled in the boxes. They had to be rechecked by hand.
While the vote margin narrowed slightly, Corradini squeezed by with the lead she'd had all night.
McKeown's top campaign aides also had a hard time believing he'd lost. "It would have helped if it had snowed," said McKeown campaign manager Dave Owen.
McKeown lives in Council District 6, which had a council race this year and a lot of interest in that race. McKeown and Owen believed they'd carry McKeown's home district by 60 percent or more.
But he didn't. "I don't know what happened in District 6. We didn't see the bump we expected, the bump we needed" to overcome Corradini's strength from the city's west side, Owen said.
"This race slipped away the last week or so," said Owen. There was so much interest in the Salt Lake mayor's race "that it took on statewide importance."
The added interest, plus the good weather Tuesday, brought out marginal voters, those who wouldn't normally vote because they wouldn't care or would stay home if it was cold or rainy. "The race got so intense, many people came out and that will float an incumbent. That's what happened," said Owen.
McKeown said he guesses his campaign will not end in debt. "We ran it on a cash basis."
What should, or could, Corradini do to win over the 49 percent of voters who didn't want her as mayor? "That's her concern now. She convinced more than 50 percent that she should be mayor, and that's what matters," said McKeown.
Any regrets? "I don't know if it is a regret," said McKeown. "But with all the grassroots effort we had, the 1,400 people who volunteered their time and energy, you would think we could have turned out a couple of hundred more votes, enough to win."