We had hoped for a Hurricane Katrina on Tuesday, an election that would devastate the existing county boards of Commissioners and Education for the Public Schools of Robeson County, but we got Fran instead.

The wind of change hit the school board hard, where three incumbents were shown the door, assuming — which might be foolhardy — that Tuesday doesn’t change some outcomes with the counting of hundreds of provisional ballots. But two of three county commissioners easily won Tuesday, and the worst of the lot, the one most responsible for the board’s avarice, barely won again and faces opposition in November that is saddled with a R beside his name.

Those three county commissioners have 45 years on the board among them, and Tuesday’s results just confirm the difficulty in defeating public officials who can hand out jobs and $30,000 a year in discretionary funds, buying friends and votes — and have well-oiled hauling mechanisms.

So the people have spoken, and didn’t pick change. Expect more of the same, high crime, high unemployment, high taxes, stagnant economic development, an unhealthy populace, roads lined with litter, nepotism and cronyism — and arrogance. What did Einstein say about insanity?

The commissioners can now declare a mandate. Perhaps they will sneak themselves a raise in the dark that the budget provides.

But we believe there is hope for the Board of Education, and perhaps there can be positive change in our schools. We were especially happy to see the overwhelming coronation of Brian Freeman, a longtime educator whose resume erases any doubts that his commitment is to children, not to himself.

All three incumbent losers — at least as the votes are currently counted — were American Indian, throwing out of balance the makeup of the at-large representatives. It tells us with certainty that the embarrassing search for superintendent last year, which ended with the selection of an American Indian, was not cheered in that community either.

We don’t prefer a board out of balance racially, but we prefer what we will get to what we have now.

A slightly lower level of disappointment is assigned to the two do-over elections, for mayor in Pembroke and the Precinct 7 seat on City Council. Our disappointment isn’t necessarily with the results, but that the margins weren’t wider and therefore less likely to be disputed.

The people in Pembroke and the city’s Precinct 7, we believe, have election fatique and are ready for finality on who will represent them. Perhaps the time has come for the apparent losers in those races to wave the white flag, congratulate the winner, and look for another day.

That might play well with voters when another day arrives.