Stock is out, Donaldson is in. So ends another political campaign cycle. So begins a new season and style of governing in Butler.

Congratulations and best wishes to Mayor-elect Tom Donaldson, a Republican former police officer, who outpolled incumbent Democrat Maggie Stock by a margin of nearly two to one. Donaldson, 61, campaigned door-to-door on a pledge of safe streets, secure neighborhoods and a crackdown on crime, especially drug-related crime.

“People want change and want something real. They’re going to get it,” Donaldson said late Tuesday after the votes were counted.

The margin of victory should not discount or discredit the accomplishments of the defeated incumbent. Stock’s eight years at the helm coincided with a local and national recession, marked by forced fiscal restraint and a constant struggle to make do with less.

It’s not easy appropriating limited assets to fight crime, pave streets and promote a downtown business district — and yet, just last year, Smithsonian Magazine named Butler the seventh best small town in America, a testament to Stock’s leadership.

Stock will leave office before a crowning achievement for Butler, the Centre City hotel-parking-retail complex. The project will bring an 80-room Marriott Springhill Suites hotel, a new Rite Aid Pharmacy, and a 225-lot parking garage downtown.

The ambitious development will shape and drive Butler downtown’s business community for years to come. Even so, it could be argued the scope of Centre City contributed to Stock’s defeat. The city is responsible for financing the project’s $3.5 million parking garage, which it will likely do through a bond issue.

Investment in the project represents a measure of risk — a measure apparently too great for the majority of voters to accept while other vital services suffered for lack of funds.

Donaldson astutely campaigned on the neglect of those other vital services.

Donaldson called the proposed garage “reckless” during his campaign, but said he hopes the project works out well for the city. It’s ironic that Centre City will be in operation and will likely boost Donaldson’s administration as he pursues his agenda.

No matter. Butler will benefit. Voters will get the changes — the “something real” Donaldson mentioned.

One bitter irony is that the city’s voter turnout was 25.4 percent. Three out of four registered voters didn’t make it to the polls. In America’s seventh-best small town, three out of four voters lacked the pride of ownership to help decide who should lead us through the next four years.

As problems go, apathy is something real. While those who voted gave strong support to Donaldson, those who didn’t vote indicate he must build his own mandate for change.

We offer best wishes to Donaldson and to Stock during the upcoming transition. May it be a smooth transition for the both of them.