It wasn't so much that local voters sent mixed messages to the electorate in the towns of Huntersville and Davidson, as five new commissioners were elected. All incumbents in both towns retained their seats, but the volume of new members on both boards could provide an alternative perspective on key issues.

With the addition of a sixth seat, the mid-term departure of one commissioner and another commissioner risking her seat by challenging Mayor Jill Swain, the Huntersville Town Board race was a free-for-all. Eleven candidates vied for the now-six-member panel, with three of the seats not held by incumbents going into the election. Narrow margins between the fifth and 11th vote-getters, and the winners coming from both sides of the interstate, provide no clear mandate for the board.

And with two commissioners in Davidson not seeking re-election, two seats were open there, drawing a total of seven candidates to the field.

Things were considerably quieter in Cornelius, with six candidates running for five seats, four of them held by incumbents. One incumbent was unseated by a razor-thin margin of two votes.

What it all means is that either local voters are ready for some form of change in Huntersville and Davidson, or, as is typically the case in local elections, the most recognized names got the most votes. Here's a town-by-town breakdown of what happened Tuesday night.

Cornelius

If the results hold up, political newcomer and Cornelius businessman John Bradford pulled off the surprise of the night, edging out eight-term Commissioner Thurman Ross by only two votes, 1,155 to 1,153. That means Bradford, along with fellow first-time candidate Jeff Hare, will comprise two-fifths of the Cornelius Town Board. Incumbents Lynette Rinker, Chuck Travis and Dave Gilroy were all re-elected. Ten-year Commissioner Jim Bensman did not run and Mayor Jeff Tarte was unopposed. The top vote-getter at 1,408, Rinker holds on to her mayor pro-tem position.

That an incumbent was apparently defeated was a surprise in that, other than residents of The Peninsula being up in arms over no pedestrian lighting along Jetton Road, contentment seems to run rampant in the town. Meetings of the Town Board of Commissioners are very lightly attended and a recent town hall-style meeting residents were encouraged to attend and express their concerns about the town drew no citizens.

Property tax rates came in at lower-than-revenue-neutral following the county-wide revaluation and, other than concerns about empty storefronts in the retail-heavy local economy, Tarte said Tuesday night that, in the coming two years, the town faces more in the way of opportunities than it does problems.

"The key issue without question is the Red Line (regional commuter and freight rail project)," said Tarte. "It will take a lot of time because they are trying to make a final decision within the calendar year, so that's going to take a lot of our time. Bringing out the top priorities of the comprehensive master plan is something we will need to get focused on. Big road projects like the diverging diamond (Exit 28 interchange planning) and trying to figure out when to address widening the rest of West Catawba is another one."

Unlike the untamed, rough-and-tumble character of Huntersville, the town's neighbor to the south, the Cornelius board is generally collegial. The only real sparring over the last four years was between Gilroy and Bensman, but with Bensman removed from that dynamic, barring any personality conflicts with the newcomers, Tarte expects a calm two years and looks forward to getting the new board members up to speed.

"We will hold our workshop in January and take the projects we know that are on our list from the current year plus things we've identified from the comprehensive master plan and collectively, with the public, staff and board, prioritize and determine, based on the revenue we project, which things we can address in the next two years," said Tarte.

The two winners agree the coming Red Line discussions are a top priority for the next board.

"You have to come up with the financing for it ... and make sure the town's not going to be on the hook," said Hare. "I have a project finance background, so I am looking forward to putting it to work and digging into the details. We will look at the models to make sure Cornelius is well taken care of."

Added Bradford, "I look forward to working with the new board and coming together at the retreat to evaluate the key issues. At the forefront are the Red Line, as well as looking at ways to fill the storefronts."

Davidson

In the months before Tuesday's election, "the Davidson way" became a derisive phrase wielded by citizens unhappy with the town's governance.

Too much deliberation — if there was any at all — went on behind closed doors, critics charged. And in a town saddled with debt related to its partnership with Mooresville in the MI-Connection communications enterprise, others complained, Davidson sometimes seemed to be searching for ways to spend money it didn't have.

But if "the Davidson way" moniker was meant as a slur, it didn't stick. If anything, the election results reinforced the eclectically insular nature of Mecklenburg's northernmost burg.

Mayor and Davidson native John Woods, the gentlemanly banker who has become the face of his hometown's relative docility, won a third term handily over Vince Winegardner, a political outsider and vocal critic of what he considered Davidson's waywardness. Woods took nearly 60 percent of the vote, with Winegardner collecting 40 percent.

In the race for town board, where the departures of commissioners Tim Dreffer and Margo Williams left two open seats, two candidates with deep community involvement will join re-elected incumbents Brian Jenest, Laurie Venzon and Connie Wessner.

Rodney Graham, a custom home builder, is vice president of the Davidson Lands Conservancy and a regular at town board meetings. Lawyer and law professor Jim Fuller is a former president of the Davidson Lands Conservancy, and has served on the town's planning board and other panels.

Graham collected 16.4 percent of the votes while Fuller collected 14.5 percent. Venzon led all candidates with 17.4 percent, followed by Jenest (16.2 percent) and Wessner (13.3 percent). Out of the running were Kristin Coupal (12.8 percent) and Mickey Pettus (10.8 percent).

While direct involvement in a community often is a springboard to elective office, it has become virtually a prerequisite in Davidson.

"I think experience was a big key in the election," Fuller said Wednesday. "But, more importantly, it's going to be a big key moving forward."

For his part, Graham likes the makeup of the panel.

"The new board represents a diversity of thoughts and ideas," Graham said, "and I think the people of Davidson want us to work collaboratively with the best interests of Davidson in mind."

With her easy win, Venzon continues to solidify herself as one of northern Mecklenburg's more influential political figures. Woods (chairman of the Red Line Task Force) and Jenest (chairman of the Lake Norman Transportation Commission) wield considerable regional clout on transportation issues.

Davidson's town board, a model of congeniality compared to most of its neighbors, likely will remain so with the addition of Fuller and Graham, who approach issues with thoughtful restraint rather than knee-jerk emotion.

And if that's "the Davidson way," commissioners likely would argue, then so be it.

Huntersville

The results of Huntersville's election are a mixed bag of satisfaction with current municipal officials and strong support for new voices in town government.

All incumbents seeking re-election in Huntersville won new terms. Mayor Jill Swain easily retained her seat by nearly a 60-40 margin over challenger Danae Caulfield, who surrendered her seat as a commissioner in order to seek election as mayor, and three current commissioners were selected to continue service on the expanded six-member town board.

"I think Huntersville residents have seen a positive momentum in the past few years," Swain wrote in an e-mail response Wednesday morning. "I was a bit nervous that those who were pleased with the board's progress might not get out to vote, but I guess I didn't need to worry."

Incumbents Sarah McAulay and Ron Julian breezed into new two-year terms on the board, with former mayor and long-time local political queen McAulay, current mayor pro tem, pacing the 11-candidate field with 2,023 votes. Julian was the second-highest vote-getter, with 1,939. But fellow incumbent Charles Jeter — arguably the most outspoken veteran member of the board — barely squeaked back into his place at the dais by finishing sixth in the field and outpolling former commissioner Brian Sisson by only 14 votes, 1,547 to 1,533, according to unofficial numbers posted by the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections.

New members of the board, finishing third, fourth and fifth in Tuesday's polling, respectively, are Melinda Bales (1,774), Danny Phillips (1,610) and Charles Guignard (1,559).

Bales, with experience as president of the Torrence Creek Elementary School PTA, emphasized "thinking out of the box" and advocating for younger citizens among her campaign priorities. Bales was the top vote-getter among all candidates in two precincts near the center of town, precincts 133 and 143.

Phillips, a well-known businessman and life-long Huntersville area resident, stressed the need to promote business, control spending and avoid future tax hikes in his campaign.

Guignard, a commissioner and planning board member in the 1990s, based his campaign platform on the importance of helping small businesses and developing solid working relationships with a variety of agencies to address the needs of town citizens.

While the incumbents emerged from the fray, the initial polling results did reveal widespread interest in placing new faces in the local political mix. In the two-candidate race for mayor, the clearest indicator of the number of voters participating, 3,584 votes were cast, and those voters spread their support all across the 11-candidate commissioner field. Each of the 11 candidates received at least 1,100 votes, ranging from McAulay's highest total to Adam Planty's 1,142, illustrating a lack of consensus.

The winners, however, don't expect the divergency among the community's voters to be an obstacle once new terms begin.

"I believe there is common ground and respect here," said Bales. "As long as we are all willing to work together we will produce the best solutions for Huntersville."

Swain added that she feels comfortable and confident with the new and returning commissioners and doesn't anticipate a gulf in communications or cooperation among the new six-member board.

"When you spend hours at early voting and at the polls with other candidates," Swain wrote, "you learn an awful lot about them. I have to say that I'm excited about the profile of the new board and doubt that I will ever get to cast a tie-breaking vote."

— John Deem, Lee Sullivan and Andrew Warfield contributed to this story.