Minnesota’s big-city mayors breezed to easy victories Tuesday in an off-year election notable for Minneapolis’ launch of instant-runoff voting _ and St. Paul voters’ decision to follow suit in future polls.

R.T. Rybak won his third term in Minneapolis, outclassing 10 other candidates even as he contemplated a possible gubernatorial bid next year. Across the river, fellow Democrat Chris Coleman _ who decided last month against a run for governor _ had a similarly easy time in pursuit of his second term.

Coleman trounced GOP businesswoman Eva Ng with 69 percent of the vote in unofficial results posted on the Secretary of State’s Web site with 100 percent of precincts reporting. Ng had 30 percent.

Ng had criticized Coleman for raising property taxes. Coleman said his successes in business development and approach to balancing the city budget were reasons he should secure another term.

Rybak had more than 72 percent of the vote with more than 80 percent of precincts reporting. Papa John Kolstad was second at about 11 percent.

It was the first time Minneapolis used an instant-runoff voting system, which allows voters to choose more than one candidate through a ranking system. Final results for all the city races could take weeks because the system requires a hand recount of the ballots. Rybak’s margin, though, was large enough to easily withstand the vote reallocation that comes with instant runoff.

Interim elections director Pat O’Connor said the new system "went really well." Turnout was light.

"I think that voters were really comfortable with it," he said.

In St. Paul, voters were also asked whether they wanted to approve instant-runoff voting in future municipal races, and they did by a margin of 52 percent to 48 percent.

Rybak seldom engaged his opponents during the campaign, and they accused him of using his office as a stepping stone for a probable run for governor next year.

"It’s not going to be easy if I run for governor, at all," Rybak said during a debate Monday on Minnesota Public Radio. But he said he has proven he can juggle high-profile assignments, citing his work in Minnesota on behalf of Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.

He’s one of a number of Democrats interested in replacing Republican Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who isn’t seeking a third term.

His commitment to the city weighed on voters like Betty Crossman, a 66-year-old retiree who voted at a northeast Minneapolis park.

"That bothers me a bit that he’s going to run for mayor but something else might come along and he’s going to leave us," she said. "But I still voted for him because at this point I think he’s the best man."

Rybak touted dropping crime rates under his watch, streamlined city permitting and his role in confronting major challenges, such as the Interstate 35W bridge collapse.

Candidates who surpass 50 percent of the first-preference votes win their race outright, and O’Connor said it appeared Rybak would meet that test.

When no candidate surpasses 50 percent, the system triggers an "instant runoff." The bottom candidate is eliminated and second and then third choices are awarded to the top finishers until one exceeds 50 percent.

At a polling station in the library of a northeast Minneapolis middle school, an election judge was on hand to explain the new system. A diagram was printed at the top of the ballot showing how to fill in ovals for different candidates in three separate columns _ and telling voters their vote would be disqualified if they picked more than one candidate in a single column.

Some people ignored the ranking options, which was allowed.

"To be honest, I voted for the candidates I wanted and I didn’t go to the second or third candidate," said Larry Wajda, a 60-year-old who owns a towing company.

Others, including clergyman Jim Wagner, 65, said he was open to the new way of voting.

"There’s some wisdom in it, in that if the second-place person that you are willing to give second place to wins, it’s sort of like you are OK with that," he said. "You don’t have to vote for three. You can vote for just one or two."

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Associated Press writers Brian Bakst and Martiga Lohn contributed to this report from St. Paul.