Parkersburg Mayor Tom Joyce carries a sign he’d placed on Broad Street back to his truck Tuesday evening. Joyce said he usually picks up his campaign signs around sundown on Election Day, and he continued the tradition on Tuesday, when he won a second term as mayor. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

PARKERSBURG — Tom Joyce handily won a second term as Parkersburg’s mayor, while some council seats changed hands and a couple races remain too close to call.

According to final, unofficial results from the Wood County Clerk’s, Joyce, a Republican, received 7,291, doubling up the 3,603 for Democratic nominee Sherry Dugan.

“It really is humbling,” Joyce said Tuesday evening. “I think that tonight’s results show that things are working well in the City of Parkersburg from a governance standpoint.”

Dugan, who faced Joyce in the 2016 campaign as well, said she wished the incumbent mayor well.

“We ran a good race,” she said.

Parkersburg City Councilman J.R. Carpenter, left, talks with his wife, Jennifer, and Councilman Bob Mercer while awaiting election results Tuesday at the Wood County Courthouse. Carpenter leads Republican Dell Pomeroy by 23 votes according to final, unofficial results. mercer was unopposed. (Photo by Evan Bevins)

Joyce said the results weren’t just a validation of his performance as mayor.

“In reality, it’s not about me. It’s about the department heads and City Council too,” he said.

The mayor said he’s not looking to make any changes to that roster of department heads. However, Joe Santer, who’s been city attorney since 1997, will be retiring at the end of the year, so Joyce will have to appoint a replacement for the new term.

There will be at least three new members on City Council, with Councilman John Reed not seeking re-election and incumbent Dave McCrady unseated Tuesday. That number could be rise to three, four or even five based on the final tally of votes after Monday’s canvass.

Two-term Councilman J.R. Carpenter, a Democrat, leads Republican challenger Dell O. Pomeroy by 29 votes in District 5.

“(Twenty-nine’s) not a great number. But it only takes one, right?” Carpenter said as he left the Wood County Courthouse Tuesday.

“That’s a good close race,” said Pomeroy, a lineman for MonPower. “I’m just sad that there weren’t more people that voted.”

Carpenter received 397 votes to Pomeroy’s 368. Libertarian Brett Lee Sullins got 46 votes.

With provisional ballots still to be counted and the County Clerk’s office accepting absentee ballots postmarked by Tuesday, it’s not clear how many other votes could impact the final total in District 5.

The same is true in District 9, where incumbent Democrat Jeff Fox trails Republican Austin Richards by 23 votes, 799-776.

“I’m still holding my breath,” Richards said. “I know it could still swing either way.

“I know I’ve got a lot of people that want to see Fox out and me in, so hopefully that holds tight,” he said.

Fox said he knows the city has more Republicans than Democrats but people, including himself, don’t always vote straight tickets.

“No matter what happens, it’s been great representing my district the last four years,” he said. “If I’m not re-elected, I wish my successor much luck in representing our district.”

The margin is wider in District 4. But Democrat Wendy Rawlins Tuck, a 67-year-old child development specialist, wasn’t ready to claim victory Tuesday night, despite leading incumbent Republican Eric Barber 400-322.

“I’m real hopeful. I worked hard to reach across party lines and reach across every line I can think of,” Tuck said.

Barber said he wasn’t surprised to lose and he doesn’t expect enough provisional or absentee ballots to come in to tip the balance. He also wasn’t disappointed in the outcome.

“In a lot of ways, I feel like I’ve made parole,” he said. “Soon, nobody’ll care what I think or say anymore.”

Barber has drawn criticism throughout his term for posts on social media. He said he was pleased to see so many other Republicans successful on Tuesday and took credit for contributing to the “big red wave that rode through Parkersburg,” saying Democrats focused more resources and effort on him than incumbents like Fox.

“I knew that I would be a great distraction,” he said.

In District 1, McCrady, a Democrat, lost to Republican Jessica Cottrille, 680-423.

“I’m super-excited, said Cottrille, a 41-year-old office manager making her first run for office. “I want a safer neighborhood; I want a better town. … It was a good town when I was a kid, and I want it to be a good town again.”

McCrady said he’s not upset about the outcome.

“I’ve enjoyed my time on council,” he said. “I hope she has as much fun on council as I did.”

The largest margin of victory in a council race was in District 7, where Republican Chris Rexroad defeated Democrat Tom Rafferty, 1,071-572.

“I’m pretty happy about the results and just looking forward to taking my place on the council … and helping my district,” said Rexroad, a 34-year-old middle school teacher seeking office for the first time.

Four Republican incumbents on council were unopposed. Councilman Mike Reynolds will begin a fifth full term in January, after being elected to fill a vacant seat in 2004. Councilmen Bob Mercer and Zach Stanley were unopposed in their bids for second terms in both the primary and general election. Councilwoman Sharon Kuhl, also completing her first term, won the GOP primary over Michael Hess and was unopposed in the general election.