CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat UA professor and mayoral candidate Tom Volgy (D) addresses a crowd of supporters gathered at the Doubletree Hotel on North Alvernon Way while awaiting election results last night. With about 4,000 votes still uncounted, Volgy trailed incumbent Bob Walkup (R) by 1,400 votes.

UA professor and democratic candidate Tom Volgy narrowly trailed his republican opponent Bob Walkup late last night in the race for mayor of the City of Tucson.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Walkup held a slight lead with 49.55 percent of the vote to Volgy's 47.6 percent. About 4,000 ballots still needed to be counted, including early ballots and those needing verification.

Those won't be counted until Friday or Saturday, said Jay Gonzales, a city spokesman.

When the Wildcat went to press, the two opponents were separated by 1,400 votes.

''Boy, is this exciting, or what?'' Walkup told a boisterous crowd of supporters.

In a speech at the Doubletree Hotel, Volgy attributed Walkup's lead to the huge advantage Walkup had in funding from special interests.

"There was an enormous amount of money spent against us by special interests," Volgy said. "This has been a very difficult campaign. It needed the solidarity of a lot of folks to get me to go on."

Volgy said he knew the race would be close, but he never expected such a negative campaign from his opponent.

"We expected a close race," Volgy said. "It's not so much the advantage of money, it's the distortions, it's the mudslinging.'

After the results from all precincts were tallied, Walkup said he felt confident that his victory will be confirmed after the remaining early ballots are counted.

"I'm encouraged by the fact that I've been ahead all night long. I feel confident that tomorrow I will be mayor for the next four years," Walkup said during his victory speech at his election party, held at the Manning House downtown.

Walkup acknowledged that the race against Volgy has been strenuous.

"As your candidate, I want to say this has been a tough campaign," Walkup said to his supporters. "Tom Volgy is a worthy opponent. He's a good man."

The College Republicans and the UA Young Democrats were on hand to support their candidates.

"I feel very good, it's looking very good for us. It's a good cushion, and with the trend we've been seeing we're on the road to victory," said Pete Seat, president of the College Republicans.

Alicia Cybulski, president of the Young Democrats, said they were disappointed, but motivated.

"It's obviously disappointing when the candidate you worked so hard for doesn't win," Cybulski said. "But it makes you want to work harder."

The Young Democrats assisted the Volgy campaign by handing out pamphlets and going door to door in Tucson neighborhoods, Cybulski said.

Paul Eckerstrom, chairman of the Pima County Democratic Party, said he knew the campaign would be a tough one, but that a record turnout of early voters would give the party something to build on.

"Bob was a popular guy, a nice guy. We always knew it would be tough," Eckerstrom said. "We had an incredible effort with early votes, more than ever before. If we lose it's not for a lack of effort. This is a launching point."

All propositions on the ballot, including the light rail initiative, were defeated.

- The Associated Press contributed to this report.