Kamloops has a new mayor and three new faces on council.

Incumbent councillor Peter Milobar surprised nobody by coasting to victory in the mayoral race, taking 74 per cent of the vote (13,147 votes),

Murphy Kennedy was second with 3,667 votes, followed by Brian Alexander with 921 votes.

In the city council race, veteran municipal lawmaker Joe Leong and one-term councillor Arjun Singh lost their seats, finishing 13th and 10th, respectively, in the 26-name race.

Newcomers to council include Marg Spina, who finished third, Denis Walsh, who was fifth, and Nancy Bepple, who finished sixth.

Incumbents re-elected included John O'Fee, who topped the polls, Pat Wallace (second), Tina Lange (fourth), John De Cicco (seventh) and Jim Harker (eighth).

In the school trustee race, incumbents Ken Christian, Annette Glover and Gerald Watson are joined by newcomers Joan Cowden and Kathleen Karpuk, while incumbent Meghan Wade failed in her re-election bid.

Voter turnout was 28.4 per cent, with 18,274 ballots cast among 64,310 eligible voters. Kamloopsians also voted in a non-binding referendum that asked of they preferred a move to four-year council terms from the current three-year mandate.

Voters were in favour of four-year terms by a margin of 53 per cent to 47 per cent.

Milobar said his victory was indicative of the trust voters have in the road city council has been travelling in the past term, a sentiment echoed by outgoing Mayor Terry Lake, who commented after only two of 21 polls showed Milobar with a massive lead:

"I think there was only one legitimate candidate in the race and it's born out in the results."

Milobar, who estimated he spent about $22,000 on the campaign, will assume the mayor's chair in early December.

FOR FULL RESULTS, GO TO THIS LINK: kamloops.ca/election/2008/flash_results.swf