Charles Dickens would have felt right at home in Fayetteville Tuesday night, as it was the best of time and the worst of times for candidates seeking the public’s vote.

The night started out upbeat at the Hollingsworth House, where a host of politicos gathered to watch the election returns and hopefully watch Greg Dunn, Bob Fuhrman and Peter Pfeifer elected to the County Commission.

The historic home was festooned in red, white and blue down to the doughnuts, and guests noshed on a variety of appetizers waiting for the returns to be posted to various websites.

But when the advanced voting tallies started appearing and Dunn trailed incumbent Robert Horgan by more than 400 votes, Dunn’s wife, and campaign manager Janet Dunn, knew it was going to be a long night.

“This is not looking good,” she said.

Her early feelings were confirmed through the evening, as Dunn would slightly cut the lead, only to have Horgan pull out further ahead.

Political novice Bob Fuhrman also watched the votes at the home, and said he had handed out more than 5,000 cards to prospective voters. Fuhrman carried nearly 49 percent of the vote and came close to defeating incumbent and longtime County Commissioner Herb Frady.

The other commission race saw Pfeifer emerge as the overall vote leader, but still having to wait for another two weeks for a runoff with Lee Hearn to decide the race.

As guests started filtering out of the house around 10 p.m., music had replaced the earlier background of the Rush Limbaugh show. In an ultimate bit of irony, ABBA’s “The Winner Takes it All” was playing as the defeated candidates made their way home.

Across town at Latitude 33, the mood was far more exuberant as Wayne Hannah was elected sheriff without a run-off. Hannah thanked his supporters who were excitedly calling friends on their cellphones after the results became apparent.

Hannah pledged to keep up the good work that Sheriff Randall Johnson has done for more than 30 years and said he wanted to have a smooth transition into office. Happy supporters hugged and kissed as they departed into the night air and realized their guy was the new sheriff in town.