NEWBURYPORT - Mayor John Moak stood in front of about 50 supporters last night at Michael's Harborside, paused for a moment to gather his thoughts for a speech, but instead simply yelled "I won," and threw his hands in the air in celebration.

Moak received 56 percent of the vote to beat challenger Jim Stiles - 3,007 to 2,320 votes - making him the first incumbent mayor to win a second term in the city in a decade. It was a nervous win for Moak, who looked worried as the first four wards were announced to the crowd.

After those wards' tallies were reported, Moak was losing 1,306 to 1,310. He lost in Wards 2 and 3, but in more conservative Wards 4, 5 and 6, the incumbent won huge majorities, including a 588 to 279 win in Ward 5.

"That was a little scary in the middle there," Moak said to the crowd after the final tallies came in.

Once the worries faded, Moak, who served as city clerk for 12 years before being elected mayor, went back to much of the same themes he touted on the campaign trail: that he developed a trust with the people of Newburyport and laid a firm foundation to help the city move forward.

"They are going to see something happen in the next two years," he said. "Tomorrow, we start to accomplish the things I've established a base for. Tomorrow is a work day and the start of the next two years and two months."

The mayor said he will concentrate on the central waterfront, continue fixing school funding and also find a way to help boost the city's coffers. One of Moak's central campaign themes was the need to go to state and federal officials to get money to help the city and schools.

"I need to look outside of Newburyport," Moak said.

In exit polls, many Newburyport voters pointed to Moak's accomplishments in his first two years, but most who voted for him say he deserves another two years to finish what he's started.

Terry Ashe, who lives on Lavalley Lane and has children in the school system, said he voted for Moak because of his handle on school issues. He also said giving the mayor another two years brings consistency to City Hall's corner office.

"I think right now he's on the course to do some really good stuff," he said.

Dave Russell, of Titcomb Street, said he voted for Moak because he is a "honest" and a "straightforward" kind of guy. Also, he said he wanted to give him another two years in office.

"He started some good things," Russell said. "And I'm a firm believer in the longer term."

Steve Bell, of Turkey Hill Road, said the decision between Stiles and Moak was difficult.

"I thought about it pretty hard," he said. "It was a tough decision."

But in the end, Bell said he voted for Moak.

"I just feel he's been doing a pretty decent job," he said. "And I don't want to rock the boat."

Stiles, a fire sprinkler designer who has worked in the high tech industry for 22 years, fared better in yesterday's election than in the preliminary contest.

Moak, in the five-way preliminary election, won in a landslide, beating his four opponents in each of the city's six wards and getting more than twice as many votes as second-place Stiles, or 1,355 votes.

"We were hoping we were able to pull it out," he said. "But we did well in a bunch of issues."

Stiles said that he was proud of his improvement from the preliminary election.

"Given where we started and given the relative inexperience of the campaign people, it was a tremendous success from that standpoint. Just not tremendous enough."

Moak, 59, of Marlboro Street, won in Wards 1, 4, 5, 6 and 1P, which is the Plum Island section of Newburyport. Stiles won Wards 2 and 3, considered among Newburyporters the more liberal of the city's wards. In Ward 1, Moak's home ward, Stiles lost by a small margin - 328 to 366.

Voter turnout was lower than the previous two general elections with 43 percent - or 5,327 - of the city's 12,141 voters casting ballots in the mayoral race. In 2005, 52 percent voted; in 2003, 51 percent went to the polls.

Moak and Stiles centered on several issues during the campaign, including the central waterfront, school funding and a senior center.

The campaign seemed more thematic than issue-based. Moak argued he gained the city's trust and another term would bring consistency to the corner office. Stiles, meanwhile, said the mayor failed to accomplish anything in his first term, calling his record almost nonexistent.