Fred Boykin won his third term on the Decatur City Commission, and three other incumbents won elections for board of education seats on Tuesday, Nov. 3.

Boykin earned 1010 votes to 449 for James Radford for the District 1, Post A seat. In the District 2, Post A race, Patti Garrett beat Kyle Williams with 739 votes to 633. Garrett replaces the retiring Mary Alice Kemp.

This race by far was the most eventful for Boykin, who ran unopposed in 2001.

“This election was different because of the blogs,” Boykin said. “Some of the electronic media made it more interesting. There was more information going back and forth that was covered in more detail than with the traditional media. The anonymity of the blogs made it a little mean spirited at times.”

Aside from the occasional sniping on the blogs, Boykin said the Internet made fact-based information such as campaign finance reports available more quickly, which was beneficial.

Boykin’s effort to study the city’s strategic plan also made a difference in his campaign. He went door-to-door to ask people what their vision of Decatur would be for the next several years.

“I got people to think about the past and to think about what is their vision of Decatur in 15 years,” Boykin said. “It was interesting.”

Three seats on the Decatur Board of Education also were decided Tuesday. In the most closely contested race in the city, incumbent Valarie Wilson kept her at-large seat by 20 votes. She beat Robert H. Pope by a count of 1,407 to 1,381.

In District 1, Post A, incumbent Marc Wisniewski earned 811 votes compared to 651 for Garrett Goebel. Wisniewski was first elected in 2001 and has served as vice chairman for the past six years.

In District 2, Post A, incumbent Bernadette Seals ran unopposed and collected 979 votes.