Terry Tornek has been voted the city of Pasadena's first new mayor in nearly two decades.

He beat fellow City Council member Jacque Robinson after winning 55.5 per cent of votes in a runoff election on Tuesday. He took a total of 7,652 of the counted votes.

According to City Clerk Mark Jomsky, there remains approximately 1,300 mail in ballots to be counted, plus whatever additional vote-by-mail ballots are received by Friday.

Tornek will serve as the city's first new mayor in 16 years. Current Mayor Bill Bogaard announced his retirement last fall, after serving as Pasadena's mayor for four terms.

While both mayoral candidates have been involved in Pasadena politics for years, the two had different visions of how to shape Pasadena's future.

Candidate Tornek, a real estate developer and former city planning director, believes building upon local health care institutions bodes well for Pasadena.

"We've got all kinds of proposals to build additional health care stuff and that's great for the city in terms of employment opportunity, in terms of the quality of care that is offered. That's the reason that Pasadena plays big," Tornek said.

Tornek hopes to create more opportunities at locations like Pasadena Community College and the California Institute of Technology, which he believes "really impact Southern California and the world."

Robinson is a Pasadena native. If she had been elected she would have been the first city-wide elected African American and female mayor. She told NBC4 that she, in part, supports an increase in the city's minimum wage to $15 per hour.

Twenty percent of registered voters turned out during the city's March primary.

The city of Pasadena, located in Los Angeles County, is home to the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade.