For the next two years, it's Mayor Mick in Aspen.

The former county commissioner cruised to victory in Tuesday's runoff election, carrying 57 percent of the vote to challenger Tim Semrau's 43 percent. That translates to 1,209 votes for Ireland and 913 for Semrau.

The total turnout for the mayoral runoff, 2,122 people, was only 61 votes shy of the total turnout in the May election, making Tuesday's vote one of the largest ever for a runoff.

"It's not a landslide, but it's a significant win," Ireland said.

Ireland took a commanding 71 percent of the vote in precinct 3, his neighborhood and home to a large number of employee housing units at Centennial and Hunter Creek.

Semrau's best turnout was in precinct 2, which includes much of the commercial core and neighborhoods near the base of Aspen and Smuggler mountains. There, he took 46 percent of the vote.

Ireland said one of his first priorities as mayor would be election reform. Ireland wants to switch mayoral races to instant runoff voting, where voters would rank candidates, thereby nullifying the need for runoff elections. He also supports moving all city voting to June and making the mayor's term four years.

The 2007 contest was the most expensive mayor race in Aspen history, with Semrau raising around $50,000 and Ireland raising around $40,000. As with the previous record holder for the most expensive election -- Rachel Richards versus Helen Klanderud in 2001 -- the candidate who won the fundraising battle lost the vote.

So must one raise at least $40,000 to have a shot at winning Aspen's mayor seat?

"Apparently you do," Ireland said. "It's unfortunate, but it appears that the competition for the seat is such" that you have to raise close to what your opponent raises.

By the numbers, the runoff was a contest for who would claim a greater share of Torre's vote, a contest clearly won by Ireland. Torre, a city councilman, took 16 percent of the vote in the May election, sending the race to a runoff between Ireland, who took an initial 47 percent of the vote, and Semrau, who got 34 percent in May. Bonnie Behrend took about 1 percent of the vote in May.

"Going up against someone who has been in office 13 years, the Democratic Party and two newspapers," Semrau said he is happy about the number of people to which he was able to get his message.

Ireland said at least one of Semrau's platforms -- raising the cap on the amount affordable housing owners can spend improving their properties -- is worth pursuing.

Ireland said there are no guarantees he will run again in 2009 because the $33,000 per year mayor's salary represents a financial hardship. And the one thing he'll remember most about the 2007 campaign?

"It seemed to go on forever," Ireland said.

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