A sign posted in Mayor Don Plusquellic’s campaign headquarters featured the campaign finance reports of Akron Councilman Joe Finley, who raised little, but still came within about 1,000 votes of unseating the mayor in 2007.In bold letters, the sign proclaimed: “This is why we need to keep working.”Gert Wilms, Plusquellic’s campaign manager, hung the sign as a reminder to the campaign’s volunteers to take the race seriously.“The trend the last couple of years is taking it out on the incumbent — just looking for a change,” Wilms said Wednesday. “We just couldn’t get caught up on it. We had a candidate who was still showing up, doing a great job and wanted the position. We were not going to be like, ‘we have all the cash in the world and take this for granted.’ ”Plusquellic’s campaign listened to Wilms’ warning and emerged from Tuesday’s primary victorious, claiming 55 percent of the vote. The mayor garnered nearly 2,500 more votes than he received in the primary four years ago. Akron Councilman Mike Williams, whose campaign also worked hard, claimed 43 percent of the vote, while Janice Davis, the third Democratic candidate and a political novice, earned 2 percent.Williams’ and Plusquellic’s campaigns, as well as local political experts, are studying the election results to see what worked and didn’t work and why the mayor was successful in an election where other incumbents, including Barberton Mayor Bob Genet and Akron City Council members Tina Merlitti and Bob Otterman, weren’t.That information could prove quite useful, especially for Mike Williams, who announced during his concession speech Tuesday night that he will run again in four years. He plans to keep up his campaign web site — williamsforakron.com — and continue having town hall meetings and getting feedback from residents.The new message on his campaign site says, “Thank you. This is not the end. It is only one step in a journey. It’s still time to bring change to Akron, and I need your help. Stay tuned.”“We are all in for running again,” said Tara Samples, Williams’ campaign manager.What went rightJohn Green, director of the University of Akron’s Bliss Institute of Applied Politics, credits Plusquellic’s win to a higher than normal voter turnout and effective campaign messaging.The election saw double the turnout of the 2007 primary, though this figure is skewed by the number of registered voters being down this year. (Many who voted Tuesday hadn’t cast partisan ballots since 2008 and had been stricken from the rolls. Voters are affiliated with a party if they cast a ballot for that party in the current year or the previous two years.)The overall number of Akron voters who cast ballots, though, rose 20 percent or nearly 4,000 from 2007.“My impression from being in the city was a higher turnout,” Green said. “I think the reason was two very effective campaigns.”Green also thinks Plusquellic’s campaign was effective in delivering its message that Plusquellic has gotten — and will continue to get — results. He said Williams “was not able to overcome the mayor’s record and the fact that he accomplished a lot of things.”Plusquellic did best in Ward 8 (71.2 percent), which includes the high-income neighborhoods along Portage Path and Merriman Road in northwest Akron, and Ward 9 (66.5 percent), which includes Kenmore, where he grew up.Oddly enough, Wilms thinks the campaign was helped by the failed recall effort against Plusquellic in 2009. The campaign benefited from voter lists generated for the 2007 primary and the more recent recall.“Thank you, recallers,” she said. “We just went through that 24 months ago. That was our universe we stuck with the whole time.” Wilms thinks one of the campaigns most successful tactics was frequent reminder calls to voters. This started in May and ran through Election Day. She thinks the campaign likely placed 100,000 calls altogether.“It is the most effective way to get out there,” she said.What went wrongTo counter Plusquellic’s strong areas, Williams needed to do well in the three predominantly black westside wards, 3, 4 and 5.He won all three wards, but not by a very wide margin, doing his best in Ward 5, where he claimed 57.8 percent.His campaign was particularly surprised by Ward 4, where he’s gotten 80 percent of the vote during past council races. He claimed 54.9 percent of the vote there Tuesday.“We are dissecting that — trying to figure it out,” Samples said.Williams also was expected to do well in Ward 7, which includes Firestone Park, where challenger Donnie Kammer beat Merlitti, a Plusquellic supporter. Plusquellic won this ward, with 55.5 percent.Samples blamed the loss on voter apathy.“Look at all of the people who registered in the [President Barack] Obama primary and did not come out in this one,” she said. “The numbers are so stark. We’ve got to figure out a way to get to the young people and let them know their vote counts.”What’s nextHarnessing the younger vote will be one of Williams’ goals when he runs again, Samples said.The campaign also will concentrate more on areas beyond where he enjoys the most support, she said.“You can’t worry about just your base,” she said. “We went outside and did other things or the numbers would have shown a bigger difference.”Williams will turn his mayoral campaign website into his at-large council site and will continue the features he’s had on the site and the activities he’s done during his campaign, Samples said.“It will be an election from here on out,” she said. “He will do his best to sustain that.”As for Plusquellic’s plans, Wilms said he was focused on the primary and now will shift his attention to the Nov. 8 general election, where he’ll face Jennifer Hensal, the winner of Tuesday’s GOP primary. She said they haven’t discussed his plans beyond that.“That’s a conversation we’ve never had,” she said.Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705 or swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com.