Despite a long, hot day at the polls Tuesday, Sophie Kesselring remained a bundle of energy till the end.

Holding a large pink sign with her name and picture on it, the Coplay Borough Council candidate urged residents entering the borough's second voting district – the fire hall on Cherry Street – to "vote Sophie."

"We need women," she told a man and woman as they entered the fire hall.

"Sorry, sir, but we do," Kesselring called out as the man looked back over his shoulder.

Gender was an issue in the race for Coplay Borough Council, according to a flyer put out during the last week of the campaign by Kesselring and candidates Jocelyn Wedge and Beverly Miller.

"For nearly the last five years, Coplay council has been run by all men," reads the two-page "voter guide" printed on both sides of pink paper. "In an era when the number of women elected to office has grown throughout the nation, Coplay has no women [council members]. We feel Coplay council needs some diversity, clearer thinking and better decision making."

Their argument was not enough to win even one of the four seats open on council, however.

Kesselring garnered 188 unofficial votes followed by Miller with 164 and Wedge with 126. They were unable to oust any of the four male primary candidates.

Councilman Charles Sodl earned the highest tally of 293 votes, followed by Councilman Steve Burker with 282 and Council President Lou Bodish with 278. Carl Luckenbach won the fourth position on the Democratic ballot with 212 votes.

In November, they will face off with Republican Mel Procanyn who earned 105 votes running unopposed for his party's nomination.

As the polls closed, Councilman Bill Leiner Jr., who is running for Lehigh County Commissioner, still held out hope that the women's flyer would affect the outcome of the election.

"Hopefully it will have an impact," he said.

The women did not circulate the only flyer making the rounds in Coplay the last week before the election. Others, printed on various colors of paper, matched Coplay's colorful politics.

The Citizens for Coplay produced a flyer on white paper endorsing Bundra, Burker, Sodl, Bodish and Luckenbach.

Burker, Sodl and Bodish "have demonstrated courage and leadership by tackling the tough issues," it says. On the back are the names of 10 Coplay women who support the five candidates.

The Coplay Democratic Club circulated a flyer endorsing the three women plus Burker. It also endorsed Frank Reichl, who challenged incumbent Joseph Bundra, for mayor.

"The Coplay Democratic Club has evaluated the Democratic candidates in the 2013 Coplay Democratic primary," reads the flyer, printed on green paper. Reichl, Burker, Kesselring, Wedge and Miller are those "the CDC feels will best serve Coplay."

Leiner also passed out a letter printed on blue paper to Republican voters. It asked them to support one of the candidates for Lehigh County executive and to cast write-in votes for Reichl.

"There are no Republican candidates for Coplay mayor. ... If either [Reichl] or [Bundra] wins the Democratic primary, and if the Democratic primary winner receives the most Republican write-ins ... he wins the election outright," Leiner's letter says.

Another Citizens for Coplay flyer, also printed on white paper, slams Miller for her voting record during the time she served on council before being voted out in 2009.

The letter goes on to endorse Bundra, Burker, Bodish, Sodl and Luckenbach.

Leiner said Tuesday afternoon he wrote a rebuttal as soon as he saw this flyer.

Printed on pink paper with the Citizens for Coplay flyer on the back, Leiner's rebuttal accuses one of the council candidates of writing the letter, which he describes as "riddled with distortion and inaccuracies."

Leiner asked readers to consider voting for Miller to show "the misguided folks that gutter politics has no place in our Coplay Democratic party." He signed it with his name and, in small print, "paid for representing the Honest Citizens for Coplay."

After the all the votes were tallied, Burker called for an end to the "circus" atmosphere that dominated the final days of the campaign.

"It's got to stop," he said.