Mathews County elected first-time candidates Pepper Love and Amy Dubois to the board of supervisors on Tuesday, leaving incumbent O.J. Cole Jr. in fourth place. In the school board election, residents returned incumbent Linda Hodges to her seat and elected newcomer Bambi Thompson.

County native Love, who pulled in 1,345 votes (19.36 percent), the largest number of votes of all seven supervisor candidates, ran a campaign that focused largely on taking care of county assets and on his years of service to the county. On Wednesday, he attributed his win to the support of his large extended family and the reputation he developed while working as a county employee.

“I always tried to help people, and that showed,” he said. “I’m happy it turned out the way it did. I’m happy to be able to serve the people. I’m looking forward to that.”

Going forward as a board member, Love said he plans to take his time and “try to get everything right.”...