Dennis O'Keefe: 'Some people call that fence-sitting. I call it good, responsible decision-making.' (CBC)

Veteran St. John's councillor Dennis O'Keefe says the ability to listen earned him an easy victory Tuesday night for the mayor's chair.

O'Keefe took 58 per cent of the 33,711 votes cast in the mayor's race in Tuesday's byelection, gliding past former deputy mayor Marie White.

"I listened to everybody. I got all the facts and when I was comfortable with my decision, then I would vote," said O'Keefe.

"Some people call that fence-sitting. I call it good, responsible decision-making."

O'Keefe resigned as deputy mayor last month to run for the top job in Tuesday's byelection, which was called after Andy Wells resigned as mayor in March to work as the full-time chair of the Public Utilities Board.

Also elected were Ron Ellsworth, who dominated the race for deputy mayor, and Debbie Hanlon, who easily won a three-way race for the Ward 4 seat.

The winners will serve until the next general election, in September 2009.

O'Keefe, who ran on a campaign that touted civic pride, faces some steep challenges, including a new sewage treatment plant and harbour cleanup that has cost overruns of about $40 million.

Before resigning, Wells said the city will have a hard time balancing its books in 2009 without bringing in a tax hike.

White, who resigned from council before the 2003 election, said her bid in the byelection was a one-time affair, and that she won't be on the ballot next time.

Marie White says she will not be on the ballot in the September 2009 general election. (CBC)

"This for me was the time for change," she said.

"Dennis and I, there were just the two of us. So people really had an opportunity to learn who I was and I don't think a year will make a difference."

O'Keefe will be sworn in as mayor on Monday.

Ellsworth, who resigned his Ward 4 seat to run in the deputy mayor's race, took almost 59 per cent of the votes cast. He received 19,509 votes, well ahead of the 7,558 for former councillor Paul Sears and 6,198 for activist Fred Winsor.

Hanlon, a realtor who made an unsuccessful bid in February for the federal Liberal nomination in St. John's East, becomes the new face on council.

She received 3,479 of the 7,344 votes cast in the Ward 4 race. Runner-up Bernard Davis received 2,861 while Sam Kelly received 1,004.