Tuesday night was an emotional rollercoaster for mayoral candidate Gerardo Hernandez.

As the first polling location reported the tallies from the Sunland Park Fire Station, supporters for Hernandez went wild. The unofficial results had Hernandez in the lead with 206 votes, Daniel Salinas with 61 votes, and Jose Hernandez with 33 votes. Rumors started flying among the crowd of the same trend at the Riverside Elementary polls, and the reported numbers confirmed the rumors. At Riverside Hernandez led with 137 votes, Salinas with 71 votes, and Jose Hernandez with 32 votes.

But as officials finished tallying the absentee and early voting ballots, the game changed. Daniel Salinas's supporters came running out of City Hall cheering for the absent Salinas. The mayoral candidate banned from city property as a condition of his bond release, unofficially swept the early voting with 261 absentee votes and 244 early-voting ballots. Gerardo Hernandez had 51 absentee votes and 159 early-voting ballots, while Jose Hernandez had only one early-voting ballot.

Gerardo Hernandez said the inconsistency in numbers is enough to appeal the results starting Wednesday.

"To me, it's very suspicious," Hernandez said. "Tuesday's election was under the supervision of official personnel, and I was winning three to one. How come when there's no supervision, they're winning eight to one? That tells me everything I have to know, and that's where I'm basing my suspicions to challenge this election." 

Hernandez also said he would have to use his own attorney for an appeal, instead of the district attorney.