The Working Families Party candidate in the race for Huntington town supervisor on Long Island is causing controversy.

More than a week after the election, some are questioning how and why she ended up on the ballot.

Reports suggest candidate didn't know her name was on the ballot

In the Huntington town supervisor race, Democrat Cooper Macco lost to GOP incumbent Ed Smyth by 602 votes. Maria Delgado, of the Working Families Party, picked up 1,195 votes.

Who is Delgado? An 83-year-old grandmother with no political background.

Her family declined to make her available after published reports indicated Delgado was a so-called "shill" candidate, unaware her name was on the ballot.

"She ran. She lost, and I'm proud of her. We are proud of her," a man at Delgado's home told CBS News New York's Jennifer McLogan.

McLogan asked the man if Delgado knew she was running, but he did not respond.

The Working Families Party said it never vetted or endorsed Delgado, adding the party line was used by the Republicans who rallied support for Delgado to pull votes away from the Democrat.

"One candidate, Maria Delgado, an 83-year-old Spanish speaker, who appeared on the ballot line, who successfully got votes on the Working Families Party line and syphoned votes away from the Democrat," said Ana Maria Archilla, co-director of the Working Families Party.

Democrats call for investigation, Republicans say election is over

The Republicans argue Delgado's name was on the ballot for both the primary and the general election, and she voted.

"If anybody is owed an apology here, it's Maria Delgado and the voters that supported her," Suffolk County GOP Chair Jesse Garcia said.

Garcia said it's Democrats playing shenanigans.

"The Democrats were rejected by a grassroots effort. This is what elections are about. Voters make a choice," he said.

"This deserves further investigation so that the public knows exactly what went on here, who knew what when," Suffolk County Democratic Chair Richard Schaffer said.

"The election happened. We can't obviously undo that. We don't know which way it would have gone if things were different," Macco said. "But I think we need to get answers and I think we need to see what was really going on behind the scenes here."

A Long Island Democratic party leader alleges a Delgado family member was promised a job with the town of Huntington to help get out the vote for the Working Families Party.

The town did not directly address this allegation, but Smyth released a statement saying, in part, "The Working Family Party chose their own candidates for Town office, rather than endorse those from another party. The bottom line, the election is over and the final tally of votes [is] all that matters. I look forward to the certified results."