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ST. LOUIS — Alderwoman Cara Spencer was overwhelmingly elected mayor of ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ on Tuesday, beating Mayor Tishaura O. Jones by a margin almost as wide as in the primary a month ago.

In final, unofficial results, Spencer won 64%-36% on Tuesday.

The results amounted to a rejection of Jones by voters frustrated with her stewardship of malfunctioning city services, underwhelmed by her handling of a big haul of federal pandemic aid, and unconvinced of public safety improvements.

They also marked a big vote of confidence in Spencer, who promised to bring new energy and ideas to City Hall, pick up the trash and clear snow from the streets, clean up mismanagement in city departments, and make people feel safer in their homes and communities.

“We voted for change,� Spencer said over a cheering, shouting crowd at Union Station. “I hope I have the privilege and honor to earn your support over the next four years.�

Jones acknowledged defeat in a speech to her supporters just after 9 p.m., but she urged them to stay engaged.

“You have one job,� she told them. “Don’t let them take us back, and make damn sure they know who they serve.�

Spencer entered the run-off Tuesday as pundits’ pick. She won the March 4 primary by 35 percentage points after months of hammering away at public safety concerns, a troubled North Side grant program, and problems with city services punctuated by a January snowstorm response so bad Jones publicly apologized.

She ran up the score in the vote-rich southwestern wards, flipped progressive neighborhoods around Tower Grove Park and ate into Jones’ margins on the North Side.

But Jones, the city’s first Black female mayor, didn’t give up.

She continued highlighting a big drop in homicides on her watch and still-pending investments in north ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½. She brought some prominent progressives who were frustrated with her back into the fold. And she cast Spencer, a white woman from the South Side, as a bad bet for Black voters.

But in the end, it barely made a dent. On Tuesday, voters went into polls north, south and central calling for change.

Jamie Kilgore, an 18-year city resident voting in far south city said she voted for Jones four years ago.

“I was excited then to have a Black woman running the city,� she said. “I thought she would bring about changes. But I don’t think she has made positive changes.�

Nycee Lyons, 45, of downtown, said she was upset Jones sent $500 payments to low-income families but wouldn’t reimburse her when a city water main broke and flooded her car. And, with all the recent problems with 911, she didn’t believe Jones that crime was down.

“It’s insane to say that,� she said. “It’s not being reported because people can’t get through.�

Cassandra Robinson, 59, of the Penrose neighborhood, said the city needed someone new to take it back to the basics.

“I’ve seen neighborhoods go down, with trash everywhere,� she said. “I’ve seen people stop working for the city because their morale is so low.

“And that snow removal,� she said, “that was a travesty.�

Spencer’s election watch party, at the Union Station ballroom downtown, started early Tuesday evening, with her supporters confident.

At 9:06 p.m., as the final vote was posted above the busy bar there, the room erupted.

Spencer thanked supporters and made special mention of her new employees.

“I want to thank the city workers, the folks who do the hard work,� she said.

She also thanked Jones for her “deep love and commitment� to the city.

After weaving her way through scores of hugs and selfies, Spencer commented about her large margin of victory.

“We ran a positive campaign, and it was resonating with the people,� she said.

She deflected specific questions about early changes, saying she would soon announce plans.

The mood at the Omega Center, on Goodfellow Boulevard, where Jones supporters gathered, was markedly different.

Jones entered well before results were announced and walked around the room embracing friends, allies and staffers. When the outcome became clear, she stepped to the podium.

Jones said she knew many in the room had hoped she would become the city’s first Black mayor to be reelected.

“Tonight didn’t go as we planned,� she told them.

But she said that they had overseen falling crime, attracted investment and set in motion big projects that will repave streets, tear down vacant buildings and help the city’s neediest.

“They will inherit countless projects that I started,� she said. “And I truly hope that my opponent keeps that good work going, because we cannot afford to let ‘back to basics’ take us back.�