It wasn’t a referendum on Mayor Michelle Wu but Boston’s City Council election showed how tough it will be to knock off Wu in a low turnout race dominated by activists and liberals.

All four of Wu’s endorsed candidates – Benjamin Weber, Enrique Pepen, Sharon Durkan and Henry Santana – cruised to victory on Tuesday night and it wasn’t even that close, according to unofficial returns.

That means that four of the 13 councilors – nearly 25% – will be in debt to Wu and under her control.

Councilor Ruthzee Louijeune – generally a Wu supporter – was battling with Erin Murphy to top the ticket in the at-large race, according to late returns.

Louijeune will be the favorite to be elected the next council president, who is in line to be acting mayor should Wu take another job.

If Louijeune wants the job as president, Wu could pressure her endorsed council members to back her, nearly ensuring she’ll get it. That way, Wu can control the council’s agenda and tamp down any dissent.

Tuesday’s election generally showed how Boston voters have turned more liberal over the past few years, and should discourage anyone from taking on Wu if she wants another term.

But this election excited no one except maybe the people who were on the ballot.

Turnout was just 15% at 6 p.m. and wasn’t expected to even make it past 20% by the time voting was through.

The council has been a nearly total embarrassment over the past two years, with scandal and questionable votes dominating the landscape. Voters seemed to want more of a return to respectability than a turn to the far left.

Wu didn’t exactly take big risks, endorsing candidates who had been front runners or racked up wins in the preliminary like Weber.

She notably stayed out of the race in District 3 where John FitzGerald, an official with the Boston Planning and Development Agency, cruised to victory.

FitzGerald as viewed as more moderate but racked up a series of other endorsements that made him the clear favorite over challenger Joel Richards.

In backing her four picks for council, Wu picked the more liberal candidate over a moderate, and accused her opponents of trying to take the city “backwards” – even though there was no evidence that they had said anything like that.

Former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh endorsed Pepen’s opponent in District 6, former Boston police officer Jose Ruiz. So it was not a good night for him or for those clinging to the mistaken belief that the “old” Boston might return.

That includes the super PAC financially supported by several Boston businessmen which was backing Ruiz and several other moderate candidates. All those candidates ended up losing.