Even though his name wasn’t on the ballot, veteran Murfreesboro Mayor John Hinton said well in advance of Tuesday’s municipal election that he would serve another term if he were the top choice as a write-in candidate.

After receiving 137 of the 332 write-in ballots cast for Murfreesboro Mayor, Hinton will fulfill his promise.

Meanwhile, in a close race for Ahoskie Mayor, political newcomer Jimmie Rowe narrowly edged out current Ahoskie Town Councilman C. David Stackhouse, 350-327 in the unofficial results from Tuesday.

“I’ve been convinced by my incumbent Town Council members that were reelected on Tuesday that I needed to join with them to continue our work,” Hinton said Wednesday afternoon. “I’m planning on doing exactly that, because I did promise to serve another term if the people of this town supported me at the voting booth.”

The Murfreesboro voters did consider other options for Mayor as the Rev. Robert Richardson was named on 100 write-in ballots. Others receiving write-in votes for Murfreesboro Mayor were Wayne Brown (18), Lynn Johnson (12), and James Eason (11). Various others (none over 10 votes) were named on the other 52 ballots.

Six individuals filed for the five seats on the Murfreesboro Town Council and political newcomer John Porter led the way with 256 votes. He was followed by Council incumbents Sarah Wallace (229), Craig Dennis (221), and Hal Thomas (220) who each will return to office. Former Town Councilman Billy Theodorakis edged out incumbent Randy Roberts, 217-205, for the fifth and final seat on the Council.

Write-in votes also decided who replaces the retiring Elaine Myers on the Ahoskie Town Council’s Ward A seat. That nod went to Justin Freeman who was named on 214 of the 286 write-in ballots cast. James Futrell received 41 of those write-in votes.

In Ahoskie’s Ward B race, incumbent Maurice Vann easily defeated challenger Donald Kirkland, 236-30.

For Ahoskie Mayor, Rowe rode the strength of a 252-93 advantage in the Precinct 1 balloting to earn the win. Stackhouse carried the other two voting precincts (Ahoskie 2: 62-44; and Ahoskie 3: 159-19). Rowe had a combined 35 votes, compared to 13 for Stackhouse, in Absentee and One-Stop balloting.

In other election results from Hertford County municipalities:

Darrell Partlow defeated incumbent Cofield Mayor Hermea Pugh Sr., 56-18. Kirk Taylor also had 18 votes for Mayor.

Cofield Town Council incumbents Stephen Lassiter (68 votes), Dacia Sutton (68), June Wynn (66), and Anthony Archer (62) were unopposed and will return to office. Hermea Pugh Jr. (39 votes) earned the fifth seat on the Cofield Council.

All incumbents in Como were unchallenged and won another term: Mayor Irvin Stephens (7 votes); and Council members Susan Kennington (9), Stephen Pearce (9), Ann Spruill (8), and Lorie Higbee (7).

Harrellsville has a new Mayor as Mary Louise Thompson was unopposed and received 14 votes. Harrellsville Council incumbents Deborah Baker (15 votes), Ray Worrells (15), and Lisa Hunnicutt (14) were also unchallenged and will return to office. Joining them to fill out the five Council seats are Ronnie Revelle (14) and a write-in candidate, who has yet to be identified by the Hertford County Board of Elections.

Incumbent Winton Mayor Tiffany Lewis defeated Whitley Farmer, 97-39, to earn another term.

In the race for Winton Council, incumbent McCoy Pierce led the way with 108 votes followed by newcomer James Bud Manley with 96. Incumbents Emily Winstead (86 votes) and Blake Blythe (75) each earned another term. The balloting for the fifth and final seat on the Winton Council was a tie as father and son Wesley and Will Liverman each received 69 votes. Hertford County election officials are soliciting guidance from the State Board of Elections on how to break that tie if a stalemate remains after next week’s official canvass of all municipal voting precincts. Until that time, all election results are unofficial.