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By a wide margin, political newcomer Eddie Hall has earned a seat on the Hertford County Board of Education.

According to the unofficial results of Tuesday’s General Election, Hall topped a field of seven candidates with 4,622 votes.

There were two School Board seats open in this year’s election cycle. Placing second and taking that seat was longtime Board of Education member J. Wendell Hall. He was named on 3,595 ballots, according to the unofficial results.

Incumbent David Shields, the current chairman of the School Board, lost his bid for another four-year term. Shields finished third in the overall balloting with 3,180 votes.

Rounding out the field were Kim A. Saunders (3,015 votes), Ashley Askew (1,619), Cheryl Gatling Tyler (812), and Devere Beard (137).

Eddie Hall and J. Wendell Hall collected the majority of their votes (3,590 and 2,670 respectively) during the One-Stop voting period. Over 12,000 votes were cast during that 17-day period (Oct. 15-31).

1. Hall’s popularity continued on Election Day (Nov. 3) where he was the leading vote-getter in seven of the county’s 13 precincts. Shields topped the Election Day balloting in five precincts (Como, Harrellsville, St. John, Millennium, and Union). J. W. Hall won the Cofield precinct.

Meanwhile, three incumbent Hertford County Commissioners were reelected. Bill Mitchell (7,501 votes), John D. Horton (7,500), and Ronald Gatling (7,231) all ran unopposed in the General Election.

Melanie Storey, the county’s incumbent Register of Deeds, was also unopposed in her reelection bid. She received 7,967 votes.

With 10,671 of the county’s registered voters casting ballots, turnout was at 71 percent in Hertford County.