QUEBEC — Regis Labeaume was elected mayor of Quebec City on Sunday night after winning close to 59 per cent of the vote.

Labeaume defeated Quebec City opposition leader Ann Bourget, who collected about 32 per cent of the ballots cast. The local businessman succeeds the provincial capital's colourful mayor Andree Boucher, who died suddenly in August.

Labeaume, 51, who ran as an independent, has chaired a Quebec business organization since 2003. His new job will take on more importance in 2008, as the city gears up for its elaborate 400th anniversary celebrations.

The city's 37th mayor will also be pressed to prepare the 2008 budget and bang out a new collective agreement with municipal workers.

There were 15 names on the ballot, but only four were seen as contenders.

Former Quebec justice minister Marc Bellemare finished a distant third with four per cent of the vote, while Claude Larose followed with one per cent support.

More than 389,000 people were eligible to vote.

Boucher, who had been mayor of suburban Ste-Foy, became mayor of Quebec City when it merged with the smaller community in 2001.

Her election was considered remarkable because she achieved it on a shoestring budget of $5,000, and without having a political party, campaign workers, a campaign headquarters or any advisers.