BELLAIRE — A write-in candidate will take the helm in the village of Bellaire after a successful campaign to become mayor.

Current Mayor Vince DeFabrizio opted to not seek re-election this year, leaving his seat up for grabs. Candidate Michael W. Doyle received 213 votes in his bid to become mayor, but write-in candidate Edward L. Marling topped that number with 245.

Unofficial results of the race were not made available by the Belmont County Board of Elections on Election Day, since all write-in votes had to be counted by hand. They were released late Wednesday afternoon.

Other contests involving write-in candidates in Belmont County included:

Shadyside Village Council — Eight candidates, including two write-ins, sought six council seats. The top vote-getters were John Ferrelli with 541, Robert Gorrell with 531, Louis Meintel with 526, Melanie Haswell with 479 and write-ins Timothy Merryman with 361 and Brandon Parr with 258. The other two candidates, Kevin Tomlinson and Carol Givens, received 215 and 128, respectively.

Smith Township trustee — Four candidates sought two seats on the board, with Ronald Duvall getting 174 votes and Michael DeLaney getting 172 to capture the seats. David Heath received 141, while write-in candidate Hannah Baker garnered 115.

In the quest for two seats on the Switzerland of Ohio Board of Education, Jerry gust and Kenneth Phillips were victorious with 1,944 and 1,939 votes, respectively. Ken Darby received 1,015, while Janice Tenley received 761, according to unofficial results released by the Monroe County Board of Elections. The race included votes in Monroe, Belmont and Noble counties, and the board of elections did not release the cumulative results until Wednesday.