VIDEO: 4 more years as Brown wins fifth term as Grand Forks mayor
Mayor Mike Brown and supporters toast to his victory Tuesday night. photo by Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald5 / 5

After months of campaigning, the results are finally in.

Mayor Mike Brown won a fifth term, defeating challenger Terry Bjerke in Tuesday’s election.

In complete but unofficial results, Brown received 60.6 percent of the vote with all 19 precincts reporting Tuesday night — a margin of 5,253 to 3,405 votes, with a total 8,669 votes tallied. Brown claimed victory at home on Tuesday night, explaining his pride in his city colleagues.

“I am humbled by the vote, and I think that it’s an affirmation that I’ve assembled a good team,”he said, referring to city staff.

Brown defeated challenger Bjerke, a City Council member who had run a campaign against Brown based largely on a more efficient, fiscally leaner vision of the city.

While Bjerke attended a meeting and waited on results at the Grand Forks County Building, Mike Brown’s house was abuzz, with an election night party drawing dozens of guests, many of whom were community leaders like Kristi Mishler, executive director of the Community Foundation, and Barry Wilfahrt, president and CEO of The Chamber.