Five of the eight candidates for four four-year Greenville council seats were at least loosely affiliated with the Committee of Concerned Taxpayers.

The odds sounded good for the challengers.

But as it turned out, the odds were better for the few not tied to the committee.

All three won.

Only one of the committee-backed candidates earned a four-year seat.

Republican David P. Henderson, the lone challenger not affiliated with the committee, was the top vote-getter with 769 votes. The 32-year-old Greenville High teacher and coach also collected the most votes in the GOP primary.

Henderson had attended committee functions but cut his ties to the group in July after the group pressed for the resignation of former council President Earl Butterfield. He said the committee was more concerned about controversy than important issues. Butterfield resigned later in the summer.

Second-year Councilman Bryan D. Langietti, a 35-year-old Republican, collected the second-most votes with 713.

"The people running against us had some good ideas and I welcome them to continue their involvement in the future. If there are no different ideas you become complacent. We have different ideas, but we have a lot of things going for us, too. We are headed in the right direction," Langietti said.

Tenth-year Councilman Richard S. Houpt collected the third-most votes with 667.

Houpt, a 75-year-old Republican, said he is anxious to see the borough's $5.5 million recreation and revitalization project through to completion during his next four-year term. He was president when the borough secured a $2.2 Governor's Capital Improvement grant for the project.

Some residents and the committee railed against the tax increases for the projects and the projects themselves, but Houpt said, "We have to be aware of what the other half is thinking, but sometimes you have to do what has to be done. We have important things to do and I'm anxious to get back to work."

Challenger Pete Longiotti, a 67-year-old Democrat, was the only committee-backed candidate who won a four-year seat. He collected the fourth-most votes with 647.

As was the case in the primary, Longiotti collected more votes than any other Democrat.

"I'm glad people listened," Longiotti said.

Longiotti said it will take some work for him to find a niche on council, but he plans to do a good deal of listening and hard figuring. "I'm not going to rubber-stamp everything," Longiotti said.

The bottom four finishers were tied to the taxpayer committee: Democrat Pamela Auchter, who came in fifth with 643 votes; Republican James Stegkamper, sixth with 615 votes; Democrat Lorrie Smith, seventh with 568 votes; and Democrat Ronald Mead, eighth with 466 votes.