In one of the closest races in Belmont election history, the Planning Board's Andres Rojas defeated School Committee member Dan Scharfman by a mere 32 votes, 2,165 to 2,133, for a seat on the Belmont Board of Selectmen.

Rojas replaces Angelo Firenze on the three-member board.

Belmont saw 4,413 votes cast as 26.1 percent of registered voters entered one of the town's eight polling stations on Monday, April 2.

The victory is historic as the New York-born Rojas – a Cambridge-based architect – becomes the first Hispanic and first minority member of the Board. 

The School Committee will see its first educator elected in many years as Pascha Griffiths finished a close second to leading vote getter Ann Lougee. Matt Sullivan, who abandoned a run for Selectmen to run for the School Committee, finished a distant third. 

Griffiths victory is also noteworthy as she has been a resident of Belmont for less than three years. Lougee will keep her seat on the board, which she was appointed in October. 

Martin Millane will retain his seat on the Board of Assessors by beating back a challange from Gerard Natoli, 1,979 to 1,679.