The new administration takes office on May 30.
None of the five council candidates with whom Trump ran in the hopes of electing a Republican slate was among the five top vote recipients in Tuesday's count.
Trump, 59, who was celebrating with political running mates and supporters at a Hagerstown restaurant Tuesday night, said he was surprised at the results, but believed he could work with the five Democrats who were leading in the council race.
"We are surprised as you look at these numbers," Trump said after reviewing the poll results. "That doesn't mean we can't pull together," he said.
Trump acknowledged that it might be difficult to work with an entire council he tried to defeat.
"I'll tell you what. I'm just as surprised ...," Trump said. "This is going to take all the people skills I've got."
"The important thing that matters now is we have to move the city forward and we have to have civil government," Trump said.
The role of the city's mayor is often seen as being that of a publicist, lobbyist and ambassador. The mayor also chairs the city's public meetings and sets the agenda. The mayor does not vote except in the event of a tied council vote.
Breichner, 73, reached by telephone at his home Tuesday night, said the low voter turnout of an estimated 22.4 percent was "a major factor" in his loss but said he has "no bitterness" about the election.
He said with nearly 50 years of service with the city, he was "very grateful for what I was able to do and accomplish."
Breichner said, however, he has doubts about Trump's ability to affect city policy.
"I think he's got a very different role to play now, rather than what he expected," Breichner said, referring to the team of candidates with whom Trump ran.
"What Dick Trump inherits is a lot of projects that got started under this administration. New initiatives are going to be very difficult to fit in. ... I think they have their work cut out for them," Breichner said. "I just have to wish the new administration well."
Bruchey, 46, said he was proud of the efforts of his supporters.
"It was a write-in campaign, and something that I don't believe anyone has tried to do at this level of government in the City of Hagerstown. ... We ran a heck of a campaign," Bruchey said in a telephone interview Tuesday night.
Bruchey said he hoped to focus on his family in the immediate future, and wished Trump luck.
Bruchey's advice to Trump was to "listen more than you talk," and for the mayor and council to "remember who they serve."
Tuesday's races took place as several political battles and policy problems loom on the horizon for city decision-makers. A local housing boom, skyrocketing home values, an aging downtown and Washington County Hospital's proposed move are just a few of the issues.
This year's mayoral race was marked by political and financial twists.
When the field of mayoral candidates solidified before the March primary, Breichner had no opposition, but four Republican candidates sought the nomination.
The Republican candidates included Bruchey, Trump, full-time college student Anthony Campello and Roger Dean Weber, who was running under the alias of Charlie Baker.
The primary was tight between Bruchey and Trump, but Trump won that race by 51 votes.
Bruchey soon announced he would run a write-in campaign against historically unfavorable odds, but not before posting on his Web site a political attack piece focused on Trump's stuttering problem.
Trump denounced the attack as "mean," and Bruchey soon removed the attack from his Web site and apologized for the remark.
Trump didn't survive the campaign without his own missteps. He raised eyebrows at a recent political forum when he said he visited homes along Jonathan Street, the historic center of the city's black community, and said he visited "clean houses."
Breichner faced political problems when he recently failed on his attempt to follow up on his promise to baseball great Willie Mays to name a local street after him.
The proposal met opposition from veterans. The mayor said he believed racial division was a factor in the proposal's demise. An attempt to revive the idea by naming the city's minor-league ballpark Willie Mays Field at Municipal Stadium met a similar fate, bringing national media attention to the city on the eve of the city elections.
Candidates also faced high-dollar competition. In the most recent financial reports, both the mayor and city council races were on track to be the most costly in recent memory, with much of the spending on the mayor's race.
By May 1, Breichner, Bruchey and Trump had spent about $21,600 on the race, more than half of which was spent by Trump. That does not include the amount that was spent during the final 16 days of the campaign.
The amount also did not include in-kind donations made on behalf of Trump by the Friends of Hagerstown PAC, an organization set up this year to raise and spend money for the slate of six Republican candidates.
