CUMMING — Tuesday was an emotional night for Chuck Welch, as the local banker became the second member of his family to be elected to the Cumming City Council.

“I’ve thought about this for a long time,” Welch told supporters gathered at Rooster’s Café. “I’m 41, and I grew up in a house where my father was a politician and he served and this has always been in the back of my mind.”

Welch gathered 117 of the 391 votes, or about 30 percent, to lead a four-person field for the Post 1 seat. Linda Ledbetter, a former county commissioner, was the runner-up in the non-partisan race, finishing with 98 votes — 19 shy of Welch — for 25 percent of the total.

“It means the world to me,” said Welch, whose late father Charles Welch served on the city council from 1972-86 and later the Forsyth County commission.

“I’m from the city of Cumming. I love the city of Cumming … [it] is my hometown, it’s where my wife and son and I have chosen to live and raise our family. Nothing could mean more to me than to serve the people.”

According to Barbara Luth, Forsyth County’s supervisor of voter registrations and elections, the Cumming city charter states council posts — this includes the mayor — are voted for by plurality. That means no runoffs are needed because the top vote-getter wins.

The election itself was a rarity in a town with little turnover on its governing body. Rupert Sexton had held Post 1 since 1971 before stepping down this spring to enjoy retirement.

As was the case in most election years, Sexton was unopposed for another term in 2013. The last contested election the city held was in 2003, when Mayor H. Ford Gravitt faced opposition.

Welch will fill the remainder of Sexton’s term, about 18 months, and will be sworn in July 21, which will be his first official meeting as a councilman.

In May, the council appointed Doug Sorrells, former longtime clerk of courts in Forsyth County, to fill the Sexton’s vacancy through the election. Sorrells, who said he had no interest in running for the office, was the first new face on the council since the early 1990s.

Welch, a senior vice president with Community Business Bank, has been involved with the Cumming-Forsyth Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club of Forsyth County and the local United Way. He described the race as a good experience in which none of the candidates attacked each other.

“The election has been a fantastic process, because you have four people that all like each other, nobody went negative,” he said. “It was a very, very positive campaign. We all just want to serve the city of Cumming.

“I just want to thank all the other folks that ran for being dedicated to the city as well. I’m sure we’ll see some of them in future elections. I’m just thankful to get a very close win tonight and that’s the truth.”

Like Welch, the other candidates applauded the lack of hostility.

“Having four people, it was a lot of work and I didn’t have a lot of money to invest, so I didn’t do a lot of things that the other candidates did,” Ledbetter said. “I went out mostly in the hot sun door to door, so it was a pretty long hot race.

“It was good election. I’m pleased with Chuck winning, and I wish I’d of had more votes than him, but he’s a good man.”

After not having a contested election for 12 years, the city could have another as soon as November, when Posts 3, 4 and 5 will be up.

Ledbetter did not rule out running in the fall, when she noted the weather would be cooler.

Julie Tressler, a real estate agent and small business owner, and Roger Crow, a past president of the chamber, tied for third with 88 votes each, or about 22.5 percent of the total.

Crow could not be reached for comment Tuesday night.

Like Ledbetter, Tressler was happy for Welch, but was hoping for a different result.

“Well, obviously I got in it to win, so it’s disappointing,” Tressler said. “But the nice thing about this race is that all the people that were in it with me were friends … Chuck’s a real good friend of mine and he’ll do a great job and I’m happy for him.”

Tressler did say that voter turnout — just 391 of the city’s 2,600 registered voters cast ballots — was disappointing and that she wasn’t sure whether she would run in the fall.

“This is the first time we’ve had a city election in a long time and a chance to have somebody new on the council, so it is disappointing that not that many voters turned out,” she said. “They should be paying more attention to this stuff.”