Lieser, Brown, Tutvedt claim primary wins

Voters Tuesday chose a mix of familiar faces and at least one newcomer in the legislative primary races.

Incumbent Bruce Tutvedt held off challenger Rollan Roberts II in a contentious Republican primary in Senate District 3.

Tutvedt tallied 45 percent of the vote compared with Roberts, who earned 43.51 percent of the vote. Jayson Peters, who dropped out of the race, earned 11.38 percent of the vote.

The race for Senate District 3 has been described as the most expensive legislative primary in the state. Roberts, a Whitefish newcomer, out-spent Tutvedt, a West Valley rancher.

Tutvedt moves on to face Democrat Shannon Hanson in the November election.

In the Democratic race for House District 4, retired forester Ed Lieser was able to hold off former Whitefish City Attorney Tom Muri.

Lieser had 63 percent of the vote while, Muri earned 37 percent. Lieser will face Republican Tim Baldwin in November.

In Senate District 2, former Rep. Dee Brown of Hungry Horse handily took the spot in a three-way race. Brown had 49.6 percent of the vote, Bill Beck of Whitefish earned 37.15 percent and Whitefish resident Suzanne Brooks got 13 percent of the vote. Brown will face Democrat David Fern in the fall.

In a tight race for Flathead County commissioner Republican nomination for District 3, Gary Krueger led Gerald “Jay” Scott by 15 votes. Krueger is a businessman and farmer and Scott is the former county fairgrounds manager.

Krueger tallied 3,636 votes, while Scott earned 3,621.

Montana law calls for an automatic recount for a county office if a candidate is defeated by a margin not exceeding 1/4th of 1 percent of the total vote or by a margin not exceeding 10 votes, whichever is greater. The defeated candidate must request the recount within five days of the official canvass of votes.

For District 1, interim Commissioner Cal Scott beat six other candidates for the GOP nomination. He received 23 percent of the vote. Kirk Gentry was second with 21.5 percent.

Set to take on the Republican winners in the Nov. 6 general election are Democrats Gil Jordan in District 3 and Clara Mears-LaChappelle in District 1.

Flathead County voter turnout was 33.74 percent for the primary.

Four Flathead District Court judge candidates will advance to the general election. Robert Allison and Daniel Wilson will face off for the Department 2 seat. Heidi Ulbricht and Vanessa Ceravolo automatically advance to the general election in the Department 3 race. District Judge Ted Lympus is running for re-election unopposed.

In the race for Governor, Republican Rick Hill and Democrat Steve Bullock won their respective primary races.

Neil Livingstone, whose running mate was Ryan Zinke of Whitefish, earned just 9 percent of the vote.

Democrat Kim Gilllan and Republican Steve Daines won their primaries and will face off in the general election for U.S. Representative. Whitefish resident Diane Smith earned 16 percent of the vote.

In the race for U.S. Senator, incumbent Democrat Jon Tester will face off against Republican U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg.