The rancor of the mayor's races in Wendell and Knightdale aside, Tuesday's elections in eastern Wake County were fairly docile affairs this fall. That's a nice change from what we've seen in recent years.

Even Election Day seemed somewhat tame. When I went to vote about 6:30 Tuesday night, there was only one other voter in the polling area. In other elections - which I grant you had more contests on the ballot - the voting room was especially crowded.

Despite the tameness of Election Day, there were some surprises. In Zebulon, Glenn York finished in fifth place in a five-person race. He represented himself quite well in the candidate's forum last month and he offered up some reasonable thoughts on what he'd like to do as a commissioner.

But the power of incumbency is strong, even in small-town elections and the three incumbents, Dale Beck, Don Bumgarner and Curtis Strickland have done nothing to merit concern on the part of voters, so they really started out this campaign with a head start.

In Knightdale, while I think the favorites won seats on the town council, I was a bit surprised Doug Taylor fared as poorly as he did. Though it was his first run for office, Taylor has some experience in government, having served on the town's land use review board and getting a front-row seat into some of the growth issues that are so important to the town of Knightdale. He finished fifth in the six-person race, and he was a good 30 votes out of fourth place.

It was interesting to see a couple of old hands in Knightdale politics - Reba Pendleton and Charles Bullock - come in third and fourth place respectively. There is no doubt, though, that as Knightdale continues to grow, the influence of longtime Knightdale residents is waning. That's a concern people in Wendell share as they wonder what that town will be like if Wendell Falls ever comes to fruition.

The mayor's race in Knightdale was, in my mind, in doubt right up until the end. Russell Killen, though he was the clean-cut hometown boy, faced a stiff challenge from business owner Jun Lee, who got a lot of money to help fund an aggressive campaign. But Killen was aggressive, too, and he worked hard to bring Lee out into the public so voters could compare and contrast the two candidates.

What is surprising is the post-election response from the two candidates. Lee sent Killen a congratulatory email, and Killen responded with an angry reply which, you guessed it, drew a snippy reply back. You can read more about that exchange elsewhere in today's edition.

In Wendell, the outcome of the commissioners race and the mayoral contest had a lot to do with knocking on doors. The winners, Sam Laughery, James Parham and Tim Hinnant did a lot of canvassing. There's an adage in politics that says politicians need to ask voters to vote for them. Hinnant, Laughery and Parham did a lot of that, Parham especially. He was easily the leading vote-getter among the four commission candidates, outdistancing second-place Laughery by nearly 100 votes.

In the mayor's race, Hinnant seemed to be the more visible candidate during the campaign. Broadwell was saddled with the same problems he faced as mayor, dealing with an ineffective town board that seemed more interested in attacking him than in governing. Ultimately, it cost him.

Now, for the winners, it's time to figure out how best to govern. Elected officials are almost always more centrist than they are as candidates, so it will be interesting to watch as they moderate over the next few months or so.