A friendly and civil campaign in Langley has elected Neil Colburn to be the 23rd mayor of Langley.

As of 2 p.m. Friday, unofficial results from the Island County Auditor’s Office had Colburn, a councilman and mayor pro-tem, winning the mayoral race.

Of the 747 registered voters in Langley, 234 voted for Colburn, while 123 choose his opponent, Will Collins.

“I’m gratified,” Colburn said Thursday. “I’m looking forward to the challenges ahead.”

Both candidates said in interviews Thursday that they thought the race was a good one, as well as a learning experience.

“I think the election went very well,” Collins said.

Collins said he appreciates the support Langley residents have shown him in his campaign, and is grateful for the chance to raise awareness about the issues that face Langley.

“It gave the opportunity as a community to get involved,” Collins said.

According to the Island County Auditor’s Web site, Colburn led with a majority of 66 percent Friday. Collins had not conceded to Colburn as of Thursday, and he was unclear about how his political career would continue if he was not elected.

Collins admitted he had not thought about running for a council seat left open by Councilman Ray Honerlah’s decision to not run.

“It seemed like my talents and experience would be best used as mayor,” Collins said of the mayor’s position.

Collins said he intends to support Kirk Gardner in running for the empty position, as Gardner has publicly announced his interest in the seat.

In a filing mix-up, Gardner accidentally filed for incumbent Jim Recupero’s Position 3 instead for Honerlah’s position. In a public forum in October, Gardner asked voters to vote for Recupero, and expressed his desire to later be appointed by the council to fill the empty position.

Recupero led Gardner as of Friday by 151-105, a majority of 59 percent.

In other Langley election results, unchallenged candidate Faith Bushby acquired 230 votes as she was elected to council Position 4.

According to Debbie Mahler, Langley city clerk, candidates interested in filing for the open council seat, Position 5, should send letters of intention to the city of Langley. The position will be vacated in January. Those who wish to apply must be registered voters, U.S. citizens and must live inside city limits for at least one year.

All precincts are in and have been counted in Island County. There are approximately 4,500 absentee ballots remaining to be counted. Official certified tallies will be posted on Nov. 19 in Island County.