Joe Gale, who rode into politics as a 26-year-old party-bucking Republican in 2015 to become a Montgomery County Commissioner, failed to place in the top two of a three-person race in the Republican primary on May 16th.

Throughout his eight-year run, his supporters liked his abrasive style, while critics felt he didn’t actively use his position to achieve anything.

The unofficial results from Montgomery County show Thomas DiBello earning 31,006 votes and Liz Ferry claiming 28,657. Gale was significantly behind with just 21,076 votes.

Gale had encouraged his supporters to bullet vote, meaning to only cast a ballot for him and not vote for a second candidate. DiBello and Ferry ran with the backing of the Montgomery County Republican Committee.

In the general election, DiBello and Ferry will face Democrats Jamila Winder and Neil Makhija. In that election, voters can vote for up to two of the four candidates. The two members of the same party that are among the top three vote-getters form the majority, while the third seat is reserved for the candidate from the other party who wins the most votes.