MIDDLEBORO — Brian Giovanoni and William Pike earned seats on the Select Board following results from the Middleboro Town Election Saturday, April 5, while newcomer Shannan Breen and incumbent Christopher Bensen were voted on to the School Committee.

Giovanoni and Pike defeated challenger Sarah Wilbur, receiving 603 and 675 votes, respectively, to Wilbur’s total of 280, to secure three-year terms on the board, according to the unofficial results reported by the town clerk.

Pike said he was “happy and proud” of not only winning his first full-term seat on the Board after serving a one-year term, but also of being the election’s “top vote-getter.”

“I wish there was a bigger turnout,” he said in response to the approximately 4% of registered Middleboro voters who came out for this year’s town election. 

He suggested the possibility of considering other forms of communication to get the word out in the future, but also thanked all the voters who came out this time around.

Town Clerk Pam Menconi said the turnout isn’t “unusual” for a town election and similar percentages have been seen in years past. 

Giovanoni said, “I was shaking my knee waiting to come over here, worried I couldn’t continue doing what I’m doing.”

Now that the results are in, he said he’s excited to continue his involvement in the Select Board’s work, taking on his second term.

“I’m humbled,” Giovanoni added. “I just think there’s so many great things we’ve done in the last three years that I just want to keep doing more and more about.”

Wilbur, who was running for office for the first time, said she sort of expected to not win as she remains fairly new to town.

“Congratulations to the two of them,” she said. “I definitely would have liked to have seen more people turn out but it’s a city election and that’s the way things go sometimes.”

Breen and Bensen defeated challenger Abbie Gonzalez with 520 and 617 votes, respectively, to Gonzalez’s total of 329, to secure three-year terms on the board.

Benson said he was happy the stress of the campaign is over so he can get back to helping the children of Middleboro in his second term. He added that there’s still much more work to be done.

“One of the biggest things is to bring the district and the community together and achieve greatness,” he said. “Middleboro is an exceptional community and if we work together, I don’t think there’s anything that can hold us back.”

With the lower voter turnout, he emphasized the importance of local elections and how much they matter to the community. 

“The people who came out are passionate and they made their voices heard,” Benson said 

Although she has the “newcomer” label, this election wasn’t Breen’s first time in the ring. Coming up one signature short last year, she said she was happy to see her name on the ballot this time around. 

“I’m looking forward to getting the trust back in the committee and I think that’s what the main issue is right now — closing that gap,” Breen said.

In the next three years of her candidacy she said she wants to help the community. 

“Listening to candidates night — people have serious issues,” she said. 

Gonzalez, who was running for town office for the first time this year, declined to comment the night of the election as he was with family.

The results for the remaining positions are as follows:

Gas & Electric Commissioners incumbents Daniel Farley and Thomas Edward Murphy, both will keep their seats. Incumbent Barbara Erickson won her seat on the Board of Assessors.

Only one candidate, incumbent Robert Sullivan, ran for a spot on the Finance Committee and he will be keeping his seat. With two positions open, a write-in candidate will likely take the second spot, Middleboro Election Coordinator Laura Bamford said. Michael Croatti received the most write-in votes, with 93.

Anders Martenson IV was reelected to the Planning Board for a five-year position. The three-year seat on the Planning Board was won by Nancy Kefalis, who was recently appointed to fill the vacancy left by the retiring John Healey.

William Ferdinand was reelected as a Park Commissioner and Thomas White won a five-year seat on the Housing Authority. White is also on the Select Board.

Menconi said the election went “really smoothly,” adding, “we had no issues.”

She thanked all those who were involved in the election process. 

“It’s more than just the Town Clerk’s Office,” she said, highlighting the police department, Department of Public Works, election workers and all others who were a part behind the scenes.