ESCANABA - The top three of five candidates elected to Escanaba City Council on Tuesday expressed gratitude to voters for choosing them to serve for the next four years - a challenge for the entire council.

Leo Evans, Walter "Pete" Baker, and Patricia Baribeau won the election, edging out Ronald Beauchamp and Tom Warstler.

"I'm just happy that the citizens decided to give me another round to serve them," said Evans following the election. A total of 918 votes were cast for Evans, the current mayor, who has served on council since 1996.

"We have work ahead of us," he added, citing the power plant issue, road repairs on Stephenson Avenue, and declining state revenues facing the city's budget.

Baker received the second highest votes with 759 nods in his favor. He expressed his appreciation for the voters' support and said he hopes to "bring value to council."

"The easy part's done - the campaign. The work starts now. I'm looking forward to the challenge," Baker said Tuesday night. He added he believes council needs "new blood" and that no one has the experience needed to face today's economy.

"We've got new problems facing the city today," Baker said.

Incumbent Baribeau tallied a total of 752 votes to be elected to council.

"I'm pleased with the results and will be happy to serve a full four-year term," she said after the election results were announced at city hall.

Baribeau has been a council member since March 2008 when she was appointed to fill a vacancy created when Wayne Heikkila resigned.

Beauchamp received 709 votes in Tuesday's election while Warstler received 484 votes.

The current council will meet for a regular meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday. The new council meets Monday for a re-organizational meeting which will include the swearing-in of the recently-elected members. The mayor and mayor pro-tem will also be appointed.

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Jenny Lancour, (906) 786-2021, ext. 143, jlancour@dailypress.net