After spending the morning in his garden, waiting for the results to roll in, Mr Graham said he had been delighted with them.
He was looking forward to being involved in all the work council needed to do in the next three years.
"Now the work begins," he said.
Mr Barker said he really appreciated being re-elected, as when standing for public office it was something you never took for granted.
When asked about the next term, Mr Barker said it was time for the council to think more broadly, and more boldly, as in the past term council had approached issues with "incrementalism" - apart from the Dam.
Being re-elected made Mr Belford feel as though the public had given him a "serious mandate" to pursue the concerns he had on water-related issues - including bottling, and the dam.
He was glad to be re-elected as part of a team which shared the same values - along with two new allies.
"Now we have enough numbers to actually make a difference on some things, that's the real pay off," he said. "I think the public will be expecting change."
Observers have noted the 5-4 majority grouping on council has now switched to those not in complete favour of the Ruataniwha Dam.
When asked if this could change the council's direction in the next term, Mr Graham said he was very conscious that with the election of Neil Kirton and Paul Bailey, the new council would need to work together, and "find some common ground".
"There are five people now, who are concerned about a lot of the issues around the Ruataniwha Dam," he said. "'It's time to have a cup of tea', as David Lange said, and lets just have a look at everything."
Mr Barker said the election of Mr Bailey - who is staunchly anti-dam - sent a strong message.
Mr Belford also said the public had sent a strong message, by not voting for the pro-dam council hopefuls - Cynthia Bowers and Tim Gilbertson for Hastings, and Martin Williams and Moira Irving for Napier.
"The dam is something people want to re-look at they want to see that re-examined," he said, "you cant look at the election any other way.
"There's a lot of potential here with what appears to be a majority on the same wave length...we have the opportunity to do something much more positive," he said.
All three were glad to have been re-elected together.
Mr Graham was "absolutely delighted", saying they had worked hard, and supported each other over the past three years.
"I'm delighted we all got on [the council], because each one of them works so hard," he said, adding it had also been good to campaign together - not as a strategy, but because they worked well together.
Mr Barker said it was great they had all been re-elected, as "the four of us have worked well as a team".
Mr Belford said, "it's helped us over the past three years when we've been on the losing side of every important vote to have a sense of humour and be supportive of one another."
"If we'd not been elected as a threesome again it'd be difficult," he said. "We have a good working relationship, we all trust each other."
-Watch Hawke's Bay Today's video interviews with the three re-elected Hastings ward councillors
