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Two incumbents earned another term on the Norwood Town Council, according to the unofficial results released Tuesday night by the Stanly County Board of Elections.

Robbie Cohen and James Lilly were re-elected out of five candidates running for the board, which was reduced to four members in 2018 by the North Carolina House of Representatives.

Lilly won the most votes with 566 (26.99 percent), with Cohen 42 votes behind him in second (24.99 percent). Darryl (Pork Chop) Gerald was third with 463 votes while incumbent Wes Hartsell was fourth with 280 votes. Tracy Harris finished fifth with 237 votes.

Having already previously served the town for 16 years, Lilly said he was proud of the people in Norwood, adding its citizens “know I’ve tried to do the very best I can for the town.”

With five candidates running for two positions, Lilly said he “had to fight for every vote,” adding he was thankful to the town and board he served with for the last four years along with outgoing mayor Harold Thompson, who lost his race to former mayor pro tem Linda Campbell.

Moving forward, Lilly said the council “has to come together and start loving each other, thinking about each other. We have to start thinking about what is best for each other and especially what is best for the town.”

Cohen thanked Norwood’s citizens, saying he appreciates the confidence and trust the voters had in him to re-elect him.

Regarding the move from five council members to four, Cohen said he agreed with the change in the town’s charter, saying he did not understand why a mayor would spend all the time and effort on issues and not have a vote. He also said he was part of that particular change “for the better.”

Cohen said water rates are among the town’s biggest challenges moving forward, adding Norwood is going to have to spend a significant amount of money to renovate the sewer station, around $3 million. He added the town also treats far more water than it sells.