The votes are in and the majority of Powell residents who cast their ballots in Tuesday’s heavily contested City Council race support the direction the city is headed under its current leadership as all three incumbents were re-elected.

Mayor Brian Lorenz, who was the top vote-getter in his re-election bid, said the results “clearly validate” the fact the incumbents have been listening to what city residents want and expect from their local government leaders.

“Our constituents have spoken loud and strong,” he said. “I’m extremely humbled to be re-elected to another term.”

Lorenz added he is hopeful some of the negativity that was generated leading up to the election will finally be put to bed.

“It’s really time for our community to put (the negativity) in the rearview mirror and move on to bigger and brighter things,” he said.

The night, however, didn’t belong to the incumbents only as challenger Melissa Riggins was elected to fill current council member Jim Hrivnak’s seat. Hrivnak decided not to seek re-election.

“I’m overwhelmed by all the support I’ve received throughout the election process, and I’m excited and looking forward to working with the rest of council to move Powell forward,” Riggins said. “We have a true picture of what the residents of Powell are looking for from their council.”

According to unofficial results from the Delaware County Board of Elections, of the eight candidates seeking the four seats up for grabs, Lorenz received 1,123 votes (19 percent), while Riggins nabbed the second most with 956 votes (16 percent).

Following closely behind Lorenz and Riggins were incumbents Thomas Counts with 919 votes (15 percent) and Frank Bertone with 891 (15 percent) votes.

As for the candidates who fell short in their bids to join council, Christina Drummond received 651 votes (11 percent), Jeffrey Gardiner collected 631 votes (11 percent), Sharon Valvona garnered 397 votes (7 percent), and David Ebersole received 390 votes (7 percent).