2 Council Incumbents Suffer Surprise Losses : Elections: In Lynwood, mayor is defeated. Montebello denies another term to a councilwoman, though mayor is reelected.

Voters in Lynwood Tuesday ousted their tough, controversial mayor and replaced him with a jovial school principal, while in Montebello a dark horse challenger came from behind to defeat a favored incumbent on the City Council.

In Lynwood, Abbott Elementary school principal Louis Byrd toppled eight-year incumbent Mayor Robert Henning after one of the city’s most bitter campaigns. Of the four candidates for two council seats, Byrd received the most votes. He was followed closely by Councilman Louis J. Heine who won a second term.

Montebello voters, as expected, gave Mayor Art Payan a solid victory, electing him to a third term with about 28% of the votes cast for six candidates.

But the surprise of the campaign was the unexpected victory of retired police officer Jesus (Jess) Ramirez over Councilwoman Kathy Salazar. Ramirez overtook Salazar in late balloting and defeated her by 151 votes.

“We started a campaign that people said we had no business starting,” a jubilant Ramirez said Tuesday night as supporters chanted “Yes for Jess. Yes for Jess.”

“They underestimated the value of a couple of things: the value of volunteers and the value of grass-roots people,” Ramirez said.

Salazar’s defeat stunned her and her supporters.

“It happens,” Salazar said Tuesday. “We did the best we could do and it just didn’t work. But nothing changes with me. I’ve been going to council meetings for 18 years, and I’m not going to stop now. I’ll still be there, just on the other side of the fence.”

Byrd, the victor in the Lynwood council race, replaces Henning, a powerful and dominant figure on the council. Henning’s defeat leaves council members Evelyn Wells and Paul Richards without the majority control they have enjoyed in recent years.

The election of Byrd will also give the low-profile Councilman Heine new power as the swing vote, if as expected, Wells and Richards continue to work as a team. Byrd is likely to vote with Councilman Armando Rea.

Byrd recalled a bitter campaign during which he and candidate Margaret Araujo reported their tires had been slashed, and Araujo said her pet dog and cat were poisoned. He said:

“You know, I was getting a little discouraged. Things were getting so bad (in the campaign). It was just awful. But I think that people wanted a change. They were not satisfied with the present administration. They saw an opportunity and took it. My election will bring unity to the city.”

Byrd campaigned on the platform of unity and racial harmony, and he charged that Henning, Lynwood’s first black mayor, had divided the city.

In fact, Henning’s style of leadership was a flash point in the campaign. A no-nonsense politician with a blunt manner, Henning said he is an aggressive leader who simply acts on what he believes.

His challengers, however, said he is little more than a bully who gets what he wants through intimidation. Henning and his supporters said he has done much to bring Lynwood’s Anglo, black and Latino community together. Critics said his abrasive style of politics has left the city in turmoil.

On Tuesday, as he sat with council members Richards and Wells amid his friends and family, Henning chastised his disappointed supporters, some of whom were crying.

“Hey, this isn’t a funeral,” he said.

Later, he said he felt “great.”

“People were just not ready for the type of leadership I provide, but I wouldn’t change it for the world,” Henning said. “I think I provided some great leadership. I’ve done what I needed to do, and now it is time for me to move on.”

Byrd, Heine and Rea said that with Henning gone, the city and the City Council will become unified.

“People were fed up with his dictatorial leadership, and they responded accordingly,” Rea said. “The community will not tolerate his type of conduct or behavior. He is simply a failed politician.”

Said Heine: “I think that we will work together in harmony now instead of one person making all the decisions.”

One of the first decisions the new council is expected to make relates to the fate of the Genesys project, a controversial proposal to establish a military-type academy for troubled young, black men in the city.

Henning, Wells and Richards supported the proposal. However, Rea, Heine and Byrd are opposed to bringing such an academy to the city.

Times Staff Writer David A. Avila and Community Correspondent Suzan Schill contributed to this story.