They were breaking out the champagne at Cafe Zola Tuesday night, but is was for consolation, not celebration: the opposition city council candidates who gathered there all lost. The percentages hardly changed all night as the precincts came in: the incumbents’ victory margins ranged from the decisive (Sandi Smith’s 58 percent in Ward 1) to the overwhelming (Margie Teall’s 69 percent in Ward 4, Carsten Hohnke’s 71 percent in Ward 5).

None, however, compared to the Democratic mayoral primary, where incumbent John Hieftje got five out of every six votes cast. Pat Lesko, who’d hoped to double the percentage of the vote polled by Hieftje’s previous challengers, instead did barely half as well. Asked what accounted for his astounding 84-16 margin, Hieftje said calmly, “It’s all about good governance and balance. People took a look at the way things are in the city and said, ‘It’s going fine. We’re okay.'”