Democratic challenger Laura Gillen won an unexpected victory over Republican incumbent Anthony Santino in the race for Hempstead town supervisor Tuesday.

She had earlier predicted that town voters would want change, a fresh face and a new start.

As News 12 has reported, Republican Rep. Peter King criticized Santino last month for "running town hall mostly like a dictatorship." Santino has been involved in a long, public feud with King's daughter, town Councilwoman Erin King Sweeney.

Republicans have controlled Hempstead for about 100 years, according to political experts.

"The Democrats have a chance to take advantage of some bad stories on both the town level and the county level," political consultant Mike Dawidziak told News 12 in October.

In November, they did.