The vote is in and the city of Ames has elected Ted Tedesco as mayor.

Tedesco won the race for mayor over incumbent candidate Larry Curtis by a vote of 2,820 to 2,139 from precinct totals.

“It feels wonderful, it’s something we’ve all worked very hard for. I really appreciated all of the support and I feel very humble right now. We can be number one in the nation,” Tedesco said after hearing the news.

Tedesco’s election campaign consisted of about 30 volunteers. Debbie Knapp and Beth Cross managed Tedesco’s campaign.

Tedesco said he did not do any specific campaigning toward Iowa State voters. He added that students “don’t really live here [in Ames] in that true sense.”

Election results were announced by Clare Bills, public relations officer for the city of Ames.

Approximately 3,200 Ames residents are eligible registered voters, Bills said. In city elections two years ago, 3,764 voters turned out at the polls. As of 11 a.m. Tuesday, 1,490 voters had turned out to the polls.

Tedesco said he knocked on about 1,400 doors during his campaign for mayor. He added that his goal was to reach as many voters as possible in hopes of gaining their votes.

Curtis, current mayor and adjunct assistant professor of accounting at ISU, said late Tuesday night that he was disappointed with the election results.

“I am obviously disappointed,” Curtis said. “In every election you stand a chance to lose and you stand a chance to win.”

He said voter turnout among college students is low and it is difficult to get students to vote.

“Getting students out to the vote is always a problem,” Curtis said.

Judie Hoffman, city council member at-large, said the number of students registered to vote in Ames is “very, very low.”

Precincts located in the Maple Hall lounge and the Memorial Lutheran Church, 2228 Lincoln Way, recorded a low voter turnout among students, according to election officials.

De Betts, election official at the Memorial Lutheran Church, said the precinct is primarily made up of college students.

She said most of the students who voted were influenced by Curtis’s campaign visits to ISU sorority and fraternity houses.

“From what we’ve heard today, that’s why they came [to vote],” Betts said.

Karen Hansen, election official at the Maple Hall lounge, said although the precinct has a high percentage of students, actual voters come from residential areas.

With less than 30 minutes left in the election, fewer than 15 students had voted at the precinct.

Ninety-three total voters had voted at Maple Hall Lounge throughout the day.

However, Hansen said she had not heard any comments referring to campaign techniques used by either candidate.

Other candidates who also won include Russ Cross, city council at-large, Sharon Wirth, first-ward, Ann Campbell, third-ward, and Emil Peterson, for Mary Greely Medical Center Board of Trustees.

Wirth said she was happy about her re-election to the city council. “It’s good to have everyone behind me,” she said.