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GREENSBORO — Two veterans will return to the Greensboro City Council as at-large members, joined by one new face.

The three councilwomen who won election said they hope to return respect and focus to a divided council.

According to complete but unofficial results, former Mayor Yvonne Johnson received the most votes in Tuesday’s at-large election with about 24 percent of the vote in the six-way race.

Incumbent City Councilwoman Nancy Vaughan will return to her seat after receiving about 19 percent.

After three campaigns, Marikay Abuzuaiter finally won an at-large seat on the council as well, receiving about 16 percent.

The three women shared a group hug at the Old County Courthouse Tuesday night after watching the final results with a large and cheering crowd.

“There’s going to be a lot of change,” said Abuzuaiter, who was in tears as the final precinct results came in. “We’re going to have a very positive, respectful, dignified council. And that will mean we can concentrate on the things we need to accomplish.”

A change of tone in local government was the theme of the evening among the race’s winners.

“We’ll have a greater focus now and hopefully less polarization,” Vaughan said. “That will allow us to work on issues which will benefit the city.”

In an election that observers have called the most partisan non-partisan race in years, candidates squared off on issues ranging from taxes and economic development to the attempted reopening of the White Street Landfill to household waste.

The landfill issue loomed large. Several candidates said it was the issue that convinced voters the current council wasn’t respectful of the residents of largely black east Greensboro who opposed the landfill’s reopening.

“I think I gained a lot of traction working with people to oppose the landfill,” Abuzuaiter said. “And so many people were willing to work so hard on these campaigns because of that issue.”

Johnson, 69, spent 16 years on the council before being defeated for a second term as mayor in 2009.

She said she had to return to the council after the divisive atmosphere in city government over the last two years. The current council’s disrespect for residents was brought home for her when the speakers-from-the-floor section was moved from the beginning of the meeting to the end, she said.

“My first motion is going to be to move speakers back to the beginning of the meeting,” Johnson said. “We have to listen to the people and we have to make it easy for all of the people of Greensboro, including our elderly and handicapped, to speak to us without being out until midnight.”

Political newcomer Chris Lawyer got about 15 percent of the vote. A number of the other candidates said they were impressed with his showing. Lawyer, 33, said he’ll likely run again.

Incumbent councilman Danny Thompson finished fifth in the six-candidate field, taking about 14 percent of the vote. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Thompson’s re-election bid was dogged by controversy over questionable campaign finance reporting, the veracity of his campaign ads and his support for reopening the landfill.

Wayne Abraham, a former chairman of the city’s Human Relations Commission, took about 12 percent of the vote.

“I think we’ll have a better City Council than we had before,” Abraham said of the night’s results. “I wish I could have joined them, but I think we made some very positive changes.”

Contact Joe Killian at 373-7023 or joe.killian@news-record.com