ELY – The third time proved the charm for Angela Campbell on Tuesday as she was elected to a seat on the Ely City Council.

Campbell lost by just six votes in the 2012 primary in her bid for mayor and lost the 2014 and 2016 council elections before finally breaking through this year with 860 votes, to claim one of three seats up for grabs on the council on Tuesday. Al Forsman, with 981 votes, and Heidi Omerza, with 1,082 votes, took the other two available seats, while current council member Daniel Forsman failed to win re-election with 797 votes

Mayor Chuck Novak received 1,245 votes in his unopposed bid for another two-year term.

“I am just thrilled,” Campbell said Tuesday night at the Senior Center after hearing the news. “I am so grateful to the citizens of Ely who voted for me, and I want to thank the election judges for their hard work today.”

She said she is looking forward to getting started with the city’s business after Jan. 1. “I’ll do my homework. I’m a vetter.”

When asked if she thought her recent attempt to purchase the former Community Center building may have gained her supporters, she said. “I had no idea that building would be my platform. I learned the importance of listening to the citizens and the taxpayers. The public hearings on the Community Center grieved me. The citizens were not being heard.”

Campbell chuckled when asked what she hoped to accomplish as a city council member. “If you give me a cause, I’m all in,” she said. “I’m tenacious. I’m not easily knocked over. I have a real interest in government and serving the people.”

In an uncontested Ely School Board race for three seats, Tony Colarich proved the top vote-getter with 1,177 votes, followed by Rochelle Sjoberg with 1,126 votes and Ray Marsnik with 1,019 votes.

Ely voters had a 72.7-percent turnout for the mid-term election, according to Clerk-Treasurer Harold Langowski. Out of 2,371 eligible voters, 1,725 voted, including 1,365 who made it to the Senior Center to vote on Tuesday, and 360 who submitted absentee ballots. There were 204 new voter registrations recorded.