CLAYTON - In his quest to win a seat on the Town Council, Art Holder made about 4,100 phone calls and knocked on nearly as many doors.

It worked.

Holder won one of three seats that were up for grabs last week. He beat out incumbent Bob Ahlert, who had served three terms on the council.

"I think I had been persistent enough," Holder said. "It was a lot of hard work."

Ahlert was the only incumbent who lost his seat in the eight-candidate race. Incumbent Michael Grannis won his second term by earning the most votes -- 491. Bob Satterfield, an incumbent elected to his fourth term, won the second-highest number of votes with 432.

The 426 votes for Holder easily topped Ahlert's 319.

"I was very surprised to see that big of a gap," said Ahlert, who was seeking his fourth term on the council.

Ahlert said he put up campaign signs and made phone calls, but he didn't knock on doors to ask for votes.

Grannis and Satterfield said they will miss having Ahlert on the council. Ahlert did a lot of work behind the scenes, Grannis said, representing Clayton before various groups.

"Clayton took a hit the night Bob Ahlert lost," Satterfield said.

But when voters chose Holder, a retired IBM worker, they opted for a candidate who knows the workings of local government well, Grannis said. Since his loss in the last election, Holder has attended most council meetings.

A ballot mixup in the 2007 race hurled Holder and other candidates into a months-long waiting period. Some voters got the wrong ballots, and the issue went through the court system. When a runoff election was finally held, Holder tied with incumbent Alex Harding. In the end, the winner was chosen by drawing names.

Harding came out on top.

"I don't like something to be left incomplete," Holder said. "To lose on a draw like that -- that was incomplete."

The winners in last week's race beat out political novices, aside from Ahlert. Steve Agbayani, Michael Carrothers, Russell Cotten and Brooks Remencus touted new ideas, like solar energy and public transportation.

"I think the incumbents had a great following," Agbayani said. "I guess the voters didn't want much change."

Cotten had gained visibility throughout the race. He lobbied the Town Council to adopt a youth curfew, which it chose not to do. He won 207 votes, which put him in fifth place.

"It's a learning process," said Cotten, adding that he wants to continue promoting his ideas.

Ahlert, who is retired, said he doesn't know what's next for him. He'll have more time for golf, woodworking and his three grandsons. He points to The Clayton Center as one of best accomplishments while on the council. Town leaders had said they wanted Clayton to become a hub for the arts, and the center helped make that happen, he said.

"I had a good run," Ahlert said.