After weeks of byzantine vote-switching and back-room politicking, Frank H. Duehay '55 was elected Mayor of Cambridge on Monday evening.

Duehay's victory came only after fellow Cambridge Civic Association (CCA) member, Katherine Triantafillou, secured--and then lost--the five of nine votes needed to become the city's top executive.

In the first balloting of the elections, Triantafillou topped the list with five votes over competing Alliance for Change party member Michael A. Sullivan.

Cambridge's council of nine members is split evenly between the two parties, with independent Council member Kenneth E. Reeves '72, holding the swing vote.

Reeves declared his support for Triantafillou prior to Monday's council meeting and his vote, added to the CCA's four votes, was expected to carry Triantafillou into the mayor's office.

But as soon as Triantafillou supporters began cheering and the voting appeared to be finished, Anthony D. Galluccio, a member of the Alliance for Change party, switched his vote from Sullivan to Duehay, who previously had no votes.

Galluccio was followed by Shelia T. Russell, another Alliance member, who switched her vote from Sullivan to Duehay. Then, led by Duehay himself, all the CCA members (not including Triantafillou) shifted their support from Triantafillou to Duehay.

As vote after vote changed hands, the crowd, which had a noticeable Triantafillou bias, began hissing and booing and did not stop until the clerk administering the balloting asked for silence.

As Duehay suddenly gained the majority, Reeves spoke up and declared that he was reaffirming his vote for Triantafillou. Reeves' proclamation elicited cheers and applause from the crowd, but did not change the outcome.

After Duehay was sworn in as mayor, the balloting for the position of vice-mayor began.

As the clerk read off the list of council members, almost every vote of both parties was cast in succession for Galluccio, a member of the party that switched to Duehay. Only Reeves and, of course, Triantafillou voted for Triantafillou.

Visibly upset, Triantafillou cast her vote saying, "Well, I guess I'll vote for myself then, won't I?"

Amid boos from a shocked crowd, the clerkdeclared Galluccio the vice-mayor by a 7-2majority and adjourned the meeting, Reeves thenhugged Triantafillou and escorted her out of thechamber.

In an impromptu speech to a crowd of supportersafter the meeting, Triantafillou expressed shock.

"This wasn't supposed to happen. I was assuredby my CCA colleagues at 5:15 this afternoon thatthey were voting for me," she said.

After Monday evening's theatrics, Triantafillouyesterday cut her ties with the Cambridgepolitical party.