AID TOWNSHIP — And the winners are… Hope Rowe, Tommy Shepherd and Chris Thompson.

Those candidates won three available seats Tuesday night on the Symmes Valley Board of Education.

Rowe led the ticket from the beginning and finished the race with 964 votes; Shepherd garnered 712 votes with Thompson collecting 614.

Rowe now becomes only the second woman to serve on the Symmes Valley Board.

“I’m so excited,” she said. “This is the first time I’ve ever run for office.” She expressed her appreciation to voters for supporting her and said she hoped she didn’t let them down.

These three were among eight candidates running this year.

Rounding out the field were Greg Ralph, 294 votes, Steve Brown, 288 votes, Ryan Sells, 286 votes and Luther Waugh, 90 votes.

Rowe, Shepherd and Thompson now join veteran board members Kim Turner and Mike Waugh. Turner said he was “tickled to death” with the results of the election.

“I think we’re all going to work together and I think it’s going to be a good board,” Turner said. On the agenda: finding a replacement for superintendent Tom Ben, who handed in his resignation effective Dec. 31.