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GREENSBORO — The City Council just got a lot more conservative — starting with the guy at the top.

First-time mayoral candidate Bill Knight ousted incumbent Yvonne Johnson in Tuesday’s City Council election.

The victory is the first by a challenger over an incumbent mayor since  voters began electing the mayor at-large in 1973.

Knight ran on a platform of fiscal conservatism and cleaning up the city’s police department. He will lead a council that, in the course of one election, now has a supermajority of registered Republicans.

“The voters spoke to change,” Knight said.

About 18 percent of the city’s registered voters turned out for the election, which included the nine Greensboro City Council seats and one bond referendum.

Candidates, their campaign staffers and supporters were tense Tuesday night as the results from the city’s 106 voting precincts rolled in.

The race between the mayoral candidates was close. Johnson, who has served one term as mayor, congratulated Knight when it became clear he would win.

His margin was 935  votes out of the 34,347  cast in complete but unofficial results.

Johnson has caught criticism over the chaos that has been a mainstay of City Council the last two years. But she was still pitting her 16 years of experience on the City Council against Knight, 70, who has never held political office.

Knight was surrounded by giddy supporters and family Tuesday.

“I am struck by the significance of this,” he said after the hubbub died down. “Four months ago, no one knew me.”

Knight, a retired certified public accountant, has promised to cut tens of millions of dollars from the city budget — an appealing prospect for voters who are disappointed that Greensboro has the highest tax rate among large North Carolina cities.

“I want an efficient city government. Let’s remake what a municipal government is all about,” Knight said.

Knight also has been a supporter of former police chief David Wray, who resigned in 2006 after accusations that his department was improperly investigating its  black officers.

Some in the crowd were celebrating a conservative victory for the city, although the City Council is a nonpartisan board.

Bill Burckley, a political consultant who worked for Knight’s campaign, attributed Knight’s win to a low turnout in the city’s predominantly black precincts in east Greensboro.

Karen Bragg, a District 1 voter and Johnson poll worker, said the mayor’s campaign had worked hard, but there may have been a feeling of complacency among supporters.

“If people don’t come out, this is what happens,” Bragg said. “No slight against Bill Knight. It’s just not what I expected.”

McArthur Davis, who worked on Councilwoman T. Dianne Bellamy-Small’s campaign, said Johnson’s loss was backlash from some white voters who felt alienated by the city’s black leaders.

“With a low turnout in east Greensboro, that was enough,” Davis said. “Greensboro just took a huge step back to reject a person with 16 years’ experience.”

Councilman Robbie Perkins, a Republican who often voted with Johnson, said her loss was likely part of a national reaction to liberal victories.

Last year, Guilford County voters decisively elected Democrat Barack Obama over Republican John McCain, 142,101 to 97,718.

“There’s a political pendulum in this country,” Perkins said. “In the fall, it swung one way, so we’re seeing it swing back now. That first swing was a strong swing, and now that it’s swinging in the other direction, we’re going to see that reflected in our communities as well.”

Johnson said she is not certain what she will do now.

“I’m just happy I’ve had the opportunity to serve the city for two years,” she said.

The new City Council will be sworn in Dec. 1. Their terms will last two years. 

Staff writers Joe Killian and Lorraine Ahearn contributed to this report. 

Contact Amanda Lehmert at 373-7075 or amanda.lehmert@news-record.com