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GREENSBORO — Reporters and supporters crowded close to mayoral candidate Robbie Perkins and his campaign manager Ross Harris as people watched the election returns at the Old County Courthouse.

The challenger was polling strong.

Perkins let out a sigh.

Northeast Greensboro resident Michael Franklin, standing behind Perkins, flanked by fellow White Street Landfill opponents, broke the news.

“The new mayor of Greensboro,” Franklin bellowed, lifting his cane off the floor.

The crowd let out a yelp. Perkins broke into his signature crooked grin.

Perkins defeated incumbent Mayor Bill Knight 57 percent to 43 percent. The results are complete but unofficial.

It’s the second time since 1973 that a challenger has beaten an incumbent Greensboro mayor. The first was two years ago when Knight won.

Knight’s tenure has been fraught with controversial decisions — from the consuming White Street Landfill debate to his support for opening council meetings with a prayer.

Perkins, 56, said he will help build a “shared vision” for Greensboro’s future. He said the council needs to quit focusing on issues that divide the city and devote itself to economic development.

“Everybody agrees, the number one priority is jobs and economic development,” he said.

He said the new council — more liberal than the present one — will do that by communicating more openly with each other.

Perkins, an eight-term councilman, is a registered Republican. But some of his closest allies on the council have been the left-leaning former Mayor Yvonne Johnson (soon to be mayor pro tem) and District 1 Councilwoman T. Dianne Bellamy-Small, leading some Republicans to be wary of him.

Perkins has been a persistent critic of the council’s conservative coalition, including Knight. He said they wasted time on issues that are unnecessarily divisive, such as the landfill debate.

On Tuesday night, Bellamy-Small, Johnson and Kee were among the first to congratulate Perkins. Johnson squeezed his hand. Kee said they will work as a team.

Perkins is a partner in the commercial real estate development firm NAI Piedmont Triad and the father of five children. He was confident enough to plan an after-party with a live band at Bin 33, a downtown restaurant. His sons flew in from out of town to celebrate.

Knight, 71, ran two years ago on a platform of fiscal conservatism and promised to have better control over council meetings than former mayor Yvonne Johnson. The retired certified public accountant led a council that cut taxes slightly and held off on big-ticket spending, such as building the voter-approved Lake Jeanette Library.

His efforts to whip the council into shape met with difficulty. Local residents chafed at his proposal to put the open public comment session at the end of agendas — a suggestion he said was meant to make meetings more efficient.

The first-time councilman sometimes found himself outmaneuvered politically. “Anybody who has watched me probably knows that I have been outshone any number of times by people who are more gifted, more skilled,” Knight said in an interview last month.

On Tuesday night, the mayor stood by his wife thanking supporters while Perkins’ camp cheered.

“I hear them celebrating, and they deserve it,” Knight told reporters.

He wished Perkins good luck and said he had no regrets.

“It’s been an honor,” he said of his time as mayor. “It’s been a real honor for me.”

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