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Moments after hearing the first poll results at his election headquarters on East Central Avenue, City Councilor Don Harris receives a congratulatory call from Mayor Martin Chavez. Harris easily held on to his District 9 council seat Tuesday as 66 percent of voters opposed his recall. The first-term councilor ended his call by saying to Chavez, "I'll do what's best for the city and I hope you will too."

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Four key City Council races have left Mayor Martin Chavez to work with a nine-member body that might be more acrimonious than the previous council.

After the initial results were tallied Tuesday night, several councilors, including a longtime Chavez ally, said it was time for the mayor to play nice.

"He has to really, I think, change his behavior," said City Council President Debbie O'Malley, who soundly defeated challenger Katherine Martinez in District 2. "That's not easy to do."

Chavez, who is midway through his third and likely final term as mayor, has spent the past year engaged in several public quarrels with the City Council. O'Malley has led the charge in forging a six-member majority that - for the first time in Chavez's tenure - has wielded the power to override mayoral vetoes.

Four seats in that six-member coalition had something at stake Tuesday:

• O'Malley, who won 3,229 to 1,235 despite Chavez's public endorsement of her opponent.

• Incumbent Brad Winter, who came in third to Chavez in the 2005 mayoral elections and Tuesday defeated opponent Paulette de'Pascal by 81 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results.

• Councilor Martin Heinrich vacated his District 6 seat to run for Congress. Winning his place was Rey Garduño, who topped a field of four candidates and pledged to stand up to Chavez or anyone working against his primary issues, such as his opposition to sprawl development. Garduño had been endorsed by Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, Chavez's likely opponent for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in two years.

• Councilor Don Harris, who staved off a well-organized effort to make him the first elected city official to be recalled from office. Had he been recalled, Chavez would have chosen his replacement.

For his part, Chavez - despite being home sick Tuesday - personally called the victors, pledging to work with them.

"He said, 'It looks like you're going to survive this one. I know it will be tough, but I hope we can work together,' " Harris said after his conversation with Chavez.

Deborah James, a spokeswoman for the mayor, echoed those sentiments.

"The mayor has called all of the candidates and thanked them for being involved in the process," James said. To the winners, "he said he looked forward to working with them on the council."

It's not the first time the mayor has made such a pledge.

"To any new city councilors and old members, I want to start anew," Chavez said two years ago, while giving his own re-election victory speech at the Hotel Albuquerque at Old Town. "I'll work with you."

Yet over the next two years, his relationship with the council degenerated.

As a result, his newest pledge to work with councilors was met with some skepticism.

Speaking at the same hotel in which Chavez made his speech two years ago, Winter said the mayor needs to make real efforts to improve his relationship with the council.

"There was a comment made tonight that (Chavez) was offering an olive branch," Winter said. "He needs to bring the whole tree."

Chavez wasn't available for comment, since he was in bed by 7:30 p.m. Tuesday with a cold, James said.

Several councilors said Tuesday's election results were a clear sign that voters want the political disharmony to end.

Among them was Ken Sanchez, who once served as treasurer to Chavez's re-election campaign and has been one of his stronger supporters on the council.

"I think (Tuesday's election) really sent a message to Mayor Chavez that he needs to start working with the council," Sanchez said.

The southwest Albuquerque representative said he intends to ask the mayor to begin making appearances at council meetings - even for just 15 minutes.

"There is no reason the mayor can't work well with the council," Sanchez said. "We all need to work together. The people of this community don't want to see the combativeness."

It was clear to many in the city's political world Tuesday that the election was as much about Chavez as it was about the council.

O'Malley said it was clear all along who her real opponent was in her bid to win a second term.

"The race really never was about Katherine Martinez. It was about the mayor, and everybody knew that," O'Malley said. "They saw it was about the mayor getting rid of me."

Councilor Sally Mayer, who for most of her two council terms was an ardent supporter of Chavez, has now turned against the mayor over the way he has managed the city's animal services division.

In this election, she contributed to Harris' bid to fight the recall election.

She foresees a difficult time ahead for the mayor.

"I know for a fact that tonight was a referendum on the mayor," she said.