As absentee ballots for Beaufort County were tallied early into Wednesday morning and added to the votes cast at the precincts, Rauch held onto a 49 percent tally, separated from Billy Keyserling's 47 percent by 97 votes. Local businessman Peter White rounded out the field with 4 percent of the votes cast.
"In a tough race, with a lot of attention, it's nice to be re-elected," Rauch said Wednesday while sitting in City Hall.
Election officials at the county Board of Elections and Voter Registration Office said Wednesday that there were not enough remaining votes in the challenge and fail-safe precincts for Keyserling to mount a comeback.
The results from those two precincts, which an election official said contained no more than 11 city votes, will be counted when elections are certified Friday.
"Looks like we lost," said Keyserling, who gained ground when the absentee ballots were tallied but couldn't overcome the 149-vote deficit he faced Tuesday night.
Rauch, who has been mayor for more than five years, was jovial in City Hall as he recounted the race and joked about the importance of his decision to purchase a good pair of walking shoes since he campaigned on foot through most of the city.
Both he and Keyserling seem to have reconciled over their bruising campaign, as Rauch reported that Keyserling phoned him to offer support.
Keyserling, an area Realtor, elected not to run for re-election for his seat on the City Council that opened up this year in order to fight for the mayor's seat.
Rauch said the race felt as tight as it turned out, but owed his success largely to strong support from the Mossy Oaks area of the city.
"When we were out there on the street corner together, it felt close," said Rauch, referring to a last-ditch campaign effort he and Keyserling made at the corner of Ribaut Road and Boundary Street on Tuesday morning.
Happy with the election turnout, Rauch believes the city can unify easily and move on, despite the sharp division of the results.
"There's only one Beaufort and only one future for Beaufort," he said, welcoming Keyserling and White supporters to share their ideas with him.
Among the challenges ahead for Rauch are the integration of a new Beaufort City Council member and paying for renovations to Henry C. Chambers Waterfront Park.
City officials are banking on money raised through a 1 cent sales tax referendum on Tuesday's ballot, the results of which were still too close to call Wednesday, to pay for several city building projects including work at Waterfront, Pigeon Point and Southside parks.
A final tally on the local referendum question, which was 137 votes down Wednesday, should come Friday when challenge and fail-safe votes are counted and a recount is completed.
Wednesday's tally of absentee ballots did solidify the race for two at-large seats on the Beaufort City Council.
Incumbent Gary Fordham and George O'Kelley won election to the council earning 25 percent and 21 percent of the vote, respectively. Charlotte Brown, who in third place trailed O'Kelley by 182 votes with 17 percent of the vote Tuesday, saw that deficit grow to 199 votes once the absentee votes were tallied Wednesday.
Six candidates vied for the two open City Council seats, one of which was left vacant by Keyserling's mayoral bid.
Election results will be certified by the Beaufort County Board of Elections and Voter Registration at 11 a.m. Friday in council chambers, 100 Ribaut Road.