RIDGEFIELD — This past November, voters quietly re-elected Rudy Marconi to a seventh term as first selectman — the second straight election in which Marconi faced no opposition. [...] his long political career, which included a 2010 gubernatorial bid, almost never got off the ground. “We were doing very well, but the last week of the election, the Republican Party took the liens and ran them in local paper as an ad, accusing me of fraud and saying that I should be in jail,” Marconi said. Selectwoman Barbara Manners, who has known Marconi since her 1995 run for first selectman, said his success stems from his knowledge of his hometown and the expertise gained from his professional experience, which allows him to relate to town employees and residents alike. Because of the business his dad was in and because Rudy worked with him for years, he is exceedingly knowledgeable about trucks and machines and other equipment, as well as knowing how to do a lot of hands-on stuff that many of us would not have a clue about. [...] when Marconi, who has four children and six grandchildren, is not working on improving the lives of Ridgefield residents, he enjoys golf, yard work and rooting for the New York Yankees and Giants. Marconi, a graduate of Nichols College, where he worked in a factory and tended the campus bar to pay for school, said he never planned to have a political career, but has embraced it, serving on several task forces and regional boards. In 2010, he launched a campaign for governor that, while unsuccessful, gave him a chance to find or forge consensus on issues facing state government. While he hasn’t ruled out a future run for governor, he said it is unlikely, particularly given the lack of name recognition and money woes that he said doomed his first bid.