Much has occurred both locally, nationally, and internationally since 1987, the last time citizens of Akron elected a new mayor. The Berlin Wall was still intact; there have been two generations of Bushes in the White House; LeBron James was just three years of age.

2015 has been a whirlwind year for Akron politics, from turmoil inside city council chambers to the resignations of long-time mayor Don Plusquellic and his successor Garry Moneypenny. But the stepping down of Plusquellic opened the door for a collection of others to throw their hat in the proverbial mayoral ring.

One of those names is the mayor-elect, Dan Horrigan.

"We had got a message out early and stayed consistent with it," said Horrigan during his interview on the Ray Horner Morning Show. "Mike Williams said it a long time ago 'sewers aren't sexy,' but it's those issues that are important, and we stayed with those. It's the financial stability of the city. It's operations and how we can be efficient. That's the approach I've taken in my entire public service career."

Through it all, Horrigan was pleased that his opponents ran campaigns largely free of mudslinging, saying this was a "welcome change" in Akron politics.

"I congratulate [Eddie Sipplen and Bill Melver]. They both ran vigorous campaigns, they concentrated on issues."

Though Akron traditionally has been a Democrat haven, Horrigan cleaned up at the polls, taking home 72 percent of the vote. Sipplen garnered 24 percent, while Melver came in at 3.7.

"I will lead this city forward. It's about having the respect of other people's opinion, and respecting the institutions that they come from."

So what is on the mayor-elect's plate for the near future?

"We're not going to wait till January to get started," says Horrigan. "I want to put together a financial and operational assessment team. These are people who have volunteered civic, community, and faith-based leaders to kinda take look at the city's finances from the outside, then give us a baseline on where to move forward."

Horrigan will take over as 62nd mayor of Akron beginning January 2016.