It came down to a battle of experience versus change and Roy Ludwig's 18 years on council carried him to a convincing victory in the 2012 Estevan civic election.

The veteran councillor captured the mayor's job with an impressive 60 per cent of the vote in Wednesday's election.

Ludwig will now replace Gary St. Onge who announced earlier this year that he would not run for another term as mayor after seven years on the job.

"I'd like to thank our community very much for their support and I look forward to fulfilling the mandate with our new council," Ludwig said after it became clear he would be declared the winner over fellow candidates Lynn Chipley and Jim Halladay. "I think we've got a great council and I am just very excited with moving the city forward."

Entering election day it was largely believed that the battle for mayor would be a two-horse race between Ludwig and Chipley, who had served two terms on council.

However, Ludwig quickly outdistanced himself from the pack, taking a sizable lead early on that he would never relinquish.

When the smoke cleared, Ludwig finished with 1,807 votes while Chipley had 912. Halladay received 299 votes.

Ludwig said entering the election he had a positive feeling from voters but was uncertain until the numbers began rolling in.

"You never really know what to expect come election time and I have learned that over the years. From my work on the ground, it was very positive and I thought unless people were telling me what I wanted to hear, it sounded pretty favourable."

Although she was disappointed in the result, Chipley said she was taking solace in the fact she garnered a third of the vote.

"I appreciate all the support I received. Am I a little disappointed I won't be here for the next four years? Of course, but seven good people have been elected and they will take good care of the city and keep the things that we started going."

When Ludwig officially takes over as mayor he will have three new councillors to work with.

Greg Hoffort, Lori Carr and Kevin Smith will join incumbents Brian Johnson, Dennis Moore and Chris Istace around the council table.

Hoffort received the most votes while Dennis Moore had the highest number of opponents among the incumbents. Hoffort said he was pleased with the support from the electorate and is looking forward to working with the new council team.

"I had a lot of encouragement and support from many people, but as far as where I would finish in the list I had no notion of that," he said. "Just about all of the councillors who were elected tonight I have worked with in the past on other boards and committees. I think it's got the makings of a great team and I look forward to getting at it."

Rodney Beatty was the lone incumbent not re-elected as he placed seventh overall. Mohammad Waseem was eighth and Cameron Robock was ninth.

The plebiscite asking voters whether or not they would like to see the speed limit lowered to 40 km/hr in the residential areas was very close with 1,468 people voting yes and 1,442 people voting no. However, the final decision will have to be made by the members of council as the results of the vote are not binding.

Overall, 3,018 people cast a vote in the election, well ahead of 2009 when roughly 1,850 people voted.

For a complete story on the election please see next Wednesday's edition of The Estevan Mercury.