All four labor-endorsed candidates, including mayoral candidate Chris Coleman, were elected in St. Paul in Tuesday's local elections. But organized labor's canididate for Minneapolis mayor, Peter McLaughlin, failed to defeat incumbent R.T. Rybak.

Coleman was elected mayor of St. Paul with about 70 percent of the vote, defeating incumbent Randy Kelly. A jubilant Coleman praised his supporters. "This was a heck of an effort ? a great victory," he said.

His top priority when he takes office will be education, he said.

In some ways, the mayoral campaign was a referendum on George W. Bush's presidency, due to Kelly's endorsement of the Republican in last year's presidential election.

"Obviously the endorsement of Bush played a lot into this," Kelly acknowledged in an interview with KFAI Radio. "If you're in this long enough, you're gonna get beat."

The three labor-endorsed St. Paul School Board candidates -- Elona Street-Stewart, John Brodrick and Tom Goldstein -- also were elected.

Rybak defeated McLaughlin by 62 percent to 36 percent, according to official returns.

"I'm proud to say we ran a positive campaign and we won," Rybak told KFAI Radio. "That's a simple statement that meant a lot."

McLaughlin had strong support from organized labor, including the police and fire unions, but failed to come close to beating Rybak.

In addition to the mayor's race, Minneapolis voters also elected members of the 13-ward City Council, the Park Board, Library Board and Board of Estimate and Taxation.

This article contains information from the Twin Cities Daily Planet, www.tcdailyplanet.info, reported in conjunction with KFAI Fresh Air Radio.