Incumbent Steve Merrill came out well ahead of Democratic candidate George Driscoll in a race for a seat on the Oxford County Commission, District 1.

Merrill pulled in 6,176 votes to Driscoll’s 4,711, winning by 1,465 votes. Merrill’s strongest showing was in his hometown of Norway, where he took 1,761 votes to Driscoll’s 767.

Merrill has served on the commission for 10 years. He works for Maine Home Crafters in Oxford.

“It’s always a pleasure to win a contest when it’s based on the fact that people have to say that they think you’re doing the right thing,” Merrill said Wednesday.

When asked about the defeat of incumbent Fredric Kennard in the other commission seat up for re-election, he noted that he and Kennard began their first terms on the commission at the same time 10 years ago.

“We were very balanced and very comfortable working together even when we didn’t agree,” he said.

Driscoll, a Bethel resident, has his own sales and marketing business. This was his first run for public office. Driscoll said Wednesday he wanted to congratulate Merrill on his win. “He’s a good guy,” he said. “I just hope that some of my thought processes and some of the ideas that I had might find their ways into the current commissioners’ thought processes.”

Will he run again? “Who knows what tomorrow brings,” Driscoll said.