Despite a race that included a complaint to the Ohio Election Commission for alleged unlawful campaign practices, incumbent Brookfield trustees George "Phil" Schmidt and Gary Lees held onto their seats over challenges by former trustees William Lordo and John N. Miller.

After their losses, Miller and Lordo washed their hands of politics in Brookfield.

"I'm not going to rehash anything," said Miller, who was a trustee from 1990 to 1997. "I have tried very hard to cause the people to raise their expectation of the government. I have failed."

"The people spoke and they're going to get the kind of government they want," said Lordo, who was a trustee from 1992 to 1995.

Miller received 1,071 votes and Lordo garnered 1,257. The incumbents, Schmidt and Lees tallied 1,677 and 1,575 votes respectively.

Miller said he plans to remove himself entirely from community involvement. "I will now step out of any involvement in local politics and let events in the community unfold as they may. In plain, I'm done. I've done my civic duty. I've tried."

However, he won't be entirely gone from the political arena until a complaint filed by Lees and Schmidt is investigated.

The pair filed a complaint with the Ohio Election Commission Saturday, saying a flier distributed by Miller contained erroneous statements about their actions as trustees.

And though they both kept their seats, they plan to follow through with the complaint.

"It wasn't about the election. It was about fairness and the electoral process. I think people violated the election laws and the spirit of the laws," Schmidt said. "Just as it is our sacred right to vote, it is also our sacred right to have proper information about the candidates."

Schmidt added, "I'd like to thank everyone who supported me and I'll try to justify their confidence in the next four years."

Schmidt, who is heading into his third term, said he is looking forward to working again with Lees.

"I hope we can work together as we have in the past," he said.

Lees echoed that sentiment: "I think the board in the past four years has sent a message that we're a community and a board that works together in harmony."