Dion Alley and Thomas Hallahan emerged victorious in the Oak Bluffs select board race Thursday, edging out Mark Leonard for the two open seats.

The two will take the place of Ryan Ruley and Brian Packish, two select board members who decided not to run for reelection.

Mr. Alley, a semi-retired technology executive who lost by a handful of votes in last year’s election, tallied 427 votes and Mr. Hallahan, a senior staffer at Sheriff's Meadow Foundation, garnered 404.

Mr. Leonard, an Oak Bluffs affordable housing committee member, received 356 votes.

A total of 741 people voted.

Thomas Hallahan campaigns outside Oak Bluffs town hall Thursday. — Ray Ewing

After the announcement, Mr. Alley received congratulatory hugs from friends and family and said that he’s already eager to get to work.

“For me, having people vote for me and want me to help lead this town is a lot of responsibility and there’s no relief in that,” he said. “People are showing their faith in me to help lead us through a lot of difficult issues.”

In an earlier conversation with the Gazette, Mr. Hallahan said that he would learn the results in private and spend the evening of the election collecting his road-side campaign signs.

The three candidates spent most of election day posted in the library parking lot with family members greeting voters. They each expressed camaraderie and appreciation for one another.

“It’s been a good experience,” said Mr. Leonard about his campaign. “It’s great to get out there and be talking to people… and the [other candidates] are both very nice.”

In the Oak Bluffs planning board race, Sean DeBettencourt defeated Robert Fehl, 401 to 159.

Edgartown and West Tisbury also had their annual town elections Thursday, with only a handful of contested races.

In Edgartown, school committee challenger Kelly Scott unseated incumbent Kimberly Kirk by a vote of 246 to 224.

Longtime board of assessors member Alan Gowell fended off James Joyce, winning 366 to 113. 

Edgartown school committee member Kimberly Kirk, pictured here, was unseated by Kelly Scott in Thursday's election. — Ray Ewing

Scott Morgan ran and won as a write-in candidate in an open race for a five-year term on the planning board.

Edgartown select board chair Margaret Serpa ran unopposed after over 30 years in town government. West Tisbury select board member Jessica Miller was also unopposed.

Both Edgartown and Oak Bluffs also approved all their ballot questions. Edgartown can now proceed with a $21.5 million fire station and Oak Bluffs has the green light for several projects, including a $325,000 tidal restoration project at farm pond.

In West Tisbury, voters easily passed a $1.2 million project to renovate the West Tisbury Public Library’s heating, cooling and ventilation system. The vote was 288 to 55.

All three towns also approved the funding for their share of a $2 million feasibility study to look at replacing or renovating the regional high school. Chilmark, Tisbury and Aquinnah will also weigh in on the study, a key step in revamping the aging high school, later this spring.

Riis Williams, Brooke Kushwaha and Thomas Humphrey contributed to this report.