The three Carbon County Commissioners will remain in office for another four years to continue their work on the proposed multiuse fire training center.

After all 51 precincts reported the results, Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne E. Nothstein, a Republican, was the top vote-getter with 6,417 unofficial votes. Republican Thomas J. Gerhard had 5,936 votes, with Democrat William O’Gurek edging out Lehighton School Board member Rocky Ahner. O’Gurek received 5,255 votes; while Ahner garnered 4,799 votes.The two Republicans gathered at Gerhard’s home in Weatherly for their celebration.The pair was happy with the voting turnout and said it was a clean campaign by all candidates.“We dealt with a lot of adversity,” Gerhard said. “But we kept it clean, kept our heads held high. I’m very thankful for everyone who voted for us, who supported us financially.”He said the number of votes his running mate received the last two elections “really says a lot about Wayne’s leadership.”Nothstein added that he initially debated about retiring his post at the end of his term this year, but the current direction the county is going in, as well as projects that he would like to accomplish drove him to throw his hat into the ring yet again.“We’re getting things done, the three of us. It takes time, but I feel that we’re finally getting somewhere,” Nothstein said.“Tom and his wife Sue Ann did a lot of the work,” Nothstein added. “I am really feeling it after this campaign. We want to congratulate Bill on a hard fought victory. We look forward to working with him the next four years.”In Summit Hill, where O’Gurek gathered with dozens of family and friends, the atmosphere was upbeat as the numbers rolled in.O’Gurek was emotional when he spoke to the 75 supporters in the Hilltop Community Center during his victory speech.“I’m here with a heavy heart,” he said. “I said if I was going to be successful, it had to be due to great family and great friends. I dedicated this night to you, great family and great friends, and I love you very, very much.“I’m pleased. I’m very happy. I’m excited to be going back to Jim Thorpe to represent the people of Carbon County as I have the past 12 years. I couldn’t have done this without the wonderful family and great friends who were with me since the beginning of the year.”Ahner also spoke out about his first experience running for a county office and the campaigns the four candidates ran.“We had a great run with a positive campaign, although the outcome was not to my advantage the friends I made is priceless,” Ahner told the Times News after the results came in. “Thank you and congratulations to all.”Gerhard and Nothstein will resume the majority commissioners spots when they are sworn in next year.This will be the fifth term for Nothstein, who has strong ties to emergency responders and the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania.During his time as a commissioner, the Lehighton native has served on CCAP’s county governance committee, resolution committee and military and veterans affairs committee, as well as the board of directors.A Vietnam-era veteran of the U.S. Air Force for four years, obtaining the rank of staff sergeant, Nothstein is a member of American Legion Post 314 and Vietnam Last Man’s Club in Lehighton and has been an active volunteer firefighter with the Lehighton Fire Department for over 43 years.Tuesday’s win secures Gerhard’s second term in office.The Weatherly area native previously served as a Packer Township supervisor for 12 years before defeating O’Gurek in the 2011 election.He is a member of the Carbon County Extension Board; Carbon County Chamber of Commerce; the Lehighton Drug and Alcohol Task Force; Shepherd House Board, Lehighton; Carbon County Prison Board chairman; Carbon County Salary Board and Carbon County Safety Committee chairman.He is also a member of the Weatherly Hillclimb Association, Weatherly Area Community Library, and serves on the Joe Andreuzzi Packer Township Community Park board. Gerhard serves on the Carbon County Records Committee and on CCAP’s Farmland Preservation Committee.O’Gurek, who rounds out the trio as the minority commissioner, will begin his fourth term as commissioner, having been elected three out of four terms and appointed to his current term by President Judge Roger N. Nanovic.As commissioner, O’Gurek served as chairman of the board from 2004 to 2012.Before his current position, he served as Carbon County’s prothonotary and the Summit Hill mayor.He is a member of St. Joseph Catholic Church, Summit Hill, where he is a Eucharistic minister; and formerly served as president of the Summit Hill Little League, the Our Lady of the Valley Home and School Association and the board of directors of the Carbon-Schuylkill Industrial Development Corporation.Reporters Chris Reber and Jarrad Hedes and correspondent Ron Gower contributed to this story.