Last modified: Wednesday, November 4, 2009 2:42 AM EST New City Councilor Richard Conti, right, campaigns at the Ward 5 polling place at the LaSalette Shrine with John Davis, who lost his bid to regain his former Ward 5 council seat. (Staff photo by Mark Stockwell) Conti tops at-large race BY GEORGE W. RHODES SUN CHRONICLE STAFF ATTLEBORO - Richard Conti desperately wanted to win an at-large city council seat - and win it he did. Conti finished first in the at-large race, besting all four incumbents. In a pre-election interview, Conti, 56, said he didn't know what else he could do with his life after winning an important Rotary Club award, and then he set his sights on a council seat. He said years of volunteer community service laid the groundwork for his victory. "It was a lot of hard work, but not just in this campaign. It was hard work over a lot of years," he said Tuesday night. "I'm humbled by this honor, and I look forward to serving with some great councilors." Also elected to at-large seats were incumbents Brian Kirby, Peter Blais, Walter Thibodeau and Kim Allard. Newcomer Mark Cooper finished out of the running. Cooper said he'll probably try again, but he was clearly disappointed with the outcome. "I guess (the voters) are satisfied with the status quo, which is unfortunate," he said. Meanwhile, in Ward 1, Cherie Felos, 43, a mother of five who graduated from law school last year, bested hard-charging high schooler Joe Lazzerini, 18, with 58 percent of the vote. And in Ward 5, newcomer Duff White, 43, beat former Ward 5 Councilor John Davis, 44, with 53 percent of the vote. Felos credited her victory to hard work, a lot of help from supporters and a tough opponent. Felos, a former marathon runner, likened the campaign to two runners side by side constantly trying to push past the other. "My opponent really gave me a run for my money," Felos said. "He pushed me to push myself. If he hadn't been such a good candidate, I wouldn't have worked so hard to beat him." She believes her experience convinced people to vote for her over Lazzerini who, while a good campaigner and very active in the community, is still in high school. "I feel truly humbled and relieved," Felos said. Meanwhile, Lazzerini said he'll be back in 2011. "I'll be back in 2011 for at-large or Ward 1," Lazzerini said. "Ward 1 hasn't heard the last from Joe Lazzerini." In Ward 5, White said he's "overwhelmed" by the vote of confidence. "I'm extremely grateful for the amount of trust voters put in me," he said. "I'm overwhelmed by it. They took a chance on me, and I've got to work the next two years to prove they were right - and I will do that." Davis, who was defeated two years ago in a race for mayor, said this defeat will likely be the end of his political career. "This is probably the last time I'll run for office," he said. "I gave the people of Ward 5 an opportunity to elect me, and they chose Duff. I'm sure Duff will do a good job." Davis lashed out at what he called the activism and partisanship that developed in this election. White is a Republican and Davis is a Democrat, but city elections are non-partisan. "It wasn't Duff, but people that supported him tried to make me seem like I was a puppet of President Obama and some crazy liberal," Davis said. "I've never seen a local campaign become so partisan." Business owner John Brederson ran a write-in campaign for mayor and Ward 5 Councilor Gerald Chase, who lost a preliminary election for his seat, ran a write-in campaign for at-large city council, but those results were unavailable Tuesday night.