AMESBURY — In an election that saw a higher-than-anticipated 24 percent voter turnout, Mayor Thatcher Kezer chalked up another landslide victory last night in his race against two-time challenger Alison Lindstrom.

A total of 1,972 voters turned in their ballots in support of the two-term mayor, giving him 67 percent of the vote to Lindstrom's 33 percent, lower than the 79 percent Kezer earned in his 2007 match-up with Lindstrom, but a decisive victory in Kezer's estimation.

"From my perspective, 67 percent is an outstanding result given the times we're in," Kezer told supporters gathered at the Alehouse last night to celebrate his win. "This is a two-year check-in to say whether we are on the right path, and I think we heard from voters that we're on the right path."

Kezer's next term begins in January. He will also receive a significant bump in pay — the Municipal Council approved increasing the mayor's pay 33 percent, to $80,000.

The election was a disappointing result for Lindstrom, who after campaigning for two days with the flu made an abrupt exit from Town Hall after the district results were read aloud. The fact that she achieved more votes this time around than she did against Kezer two years ago didn't provide much solace for the former municipal councilor.

"I did better, but I didn't do well enough," said Lindstrom. "It's a great win for him, but a loss for Amesbury."

For Amesbury voters, their choice came down to a referendum on what kind of job Kezer is doing as mayor.

John Lucier said although he didn't expect Lindstrom would win, he voted for her anyway in hopes of shaking up the status quo at Town Hall.

"It's time for change," said Lucier after exiting the polls last night. "He's had four years, and it's time for something different."

Those who marked their ballot for Kezer cited the incumbent's ability to keep things moving in the right direction during difficult economic times.

"I voted for Mayor Kezer because he's been doing a good job," said Jack Scholtz, who, along with several other voters who declined to be named, said he felt comfortable with Kezer at the helm during the dark budget days ahead.

"The woman who is the artist explained all the issues, but she had no solutions," said Mark Conchieri of Kezer's challenger.

Kezer told supporters at his victory party that this election was a tough one for incumbents, many of whom he said were having a tough night across Massachusetts.

"This has been a very challenging time in this country," he told them, "and a tough time to be an incumbent."

Given that the last two years have meant saying no more than saying yes when it comes to everything from raises to increased services and programs, Kezer said the tough times will characterize politics for some time to come.

"There's a lot of my peers that are not having a good night tonight," he said of the political shake-up going on across the country as a result of the economic crisis.

Supporters of Kezer like Rebecca Jordan, who served as his campaign manager, felt his success in the election was due to Kezer's ability to talk straight about the toughest issues. Jordan said she thought the tide turned in favor of her candidate during a debate sponsored by The Daily News and the Amesbury Chamber of Commerce, when Lindstrom stumbled on a question pertaining to how she would save money for the town if elected mayor.

"They saw what I saw, that he had real answers to the hard questions," said Jordan of Kezer's debate performance.

As he looked forward to another two years in office, Kezer's comments following the win indicated conciliation was on his mind, as he credited Lindstrom with running a spirited campaign, and he wished her well both in her recovery from the flu and in her future pursuits.

"I credit Alison Lindstrom," said Kezer in his acceptance speech. "She worked hard and never gave up and she continued on her message no matter what. I wish her well."

After a disappointing 6.9 percent turnout for the preliminary election, the hopes were slim for this election. But voters turned out in higher-than-anticipated numbers throughout the day, with tallies remaining close to those racked up in 2007, when there were three questions on the ballot as well as a contested mayoral and several contested councilor races.

"It's better than we thought," said Town Clerk Bonnijo Kitchin of the results that had come in as of 4 p.m., which registered a 15.6 percent turnout of the town's nearly 12,000 registered voters.

"It's a sad thing that we're excited about 24 percent, but it's a great thing that we had 24 percent come out," Kitchin said. "We were pretty much in the ballpark for only having one race."