Final election results: Republicans rule the roost

Republicans maintained firm control in the Montana midterm elections. Meanwhile, voters in Flathead County supported a 3% tax on recreational marijuana, but narrowly rejected the same tax on medical marijuana as 100% of the precincts had reported final votes Thursday.

Republican Pam Holmquist easily maintained her seat as county commissioner for a third term against write-in Jack Fallon.

Holmquist beat Fallon by just 40 votes in the primary, but won easily in the general election, as Fallon’s name wasn’t on the ballot.

In House District 3, incumbent Braxton Mitchell defeated Democratic challenger Andrea Getts. Mitchell got 58% of the votes despite a spirited campaign by Getts.

Both are Columbia Falls High School graduates and both are in their 20s, which made for an interesting race.

“I am honored to once again have a clear mandate from voters going into this next session. I am already working on priority legislation and look forward to fulfilling my campaign promises and working on the priorities of my constituents,” Mitchell said in a statement Thursday.

In the U.S. House District 1 race, Whitefish Republican Ryan Zinke beat Democrat Monica Tranel in a close race.

In that race, one might wonder about the impact of Libertarian John Lamb in the race. Lamb got just 9,305 votes, but if Lamb hadn’t run, where would the votes have gone?

An interesting discussion as always in three-way races that Montana often sees in statewide elections.

With 100% of precincts reporting, the following are the results:

(Statewide)

U.S. House 1st district

Ryan Zinke (R) 120,285

Monica Tranel (D) 112,271

John Lamb (L) 9,305

U.S. House 2nd district

Matt Rosendale (R) 120,899

Penny Ronning (D) 42,905

Sam Rankin (L) 2,975

Gary Buchanan (I) 46,917

Supreme Court Justice 1

Bill D’Alton 87,081

Jim Rice 302,580

Supreme Court Justice 2

James Brown 197,892

Ingrid Gustafson 235,225

PSC 5

Ann Bukacek (R) 52,836

John Repke (D) 40,802

Constitutional Amendment 48

Yes 357,590

No 76,822

Legislative Referendum 131

Yes 209,218

No 231,729

Local

HD3

Braxton Mitchell (R) 2,674

Andrea Getts (D) 1,912

HD4

Matt Regier (R) 4,144

Kimberly Pinter (D) 1,321

HD5

Lyn Bennett (R) 2,238

Dave Fern (D) 3,549

Flathead County Commissioner

Pamela Holmquist (R) 28,266

Jack Fallon (Write-in) 11,825 (presumably most were for Fallon)

Flathead Clerk and Recorder

Debbie Pierson (R) 36,323

Flathead County Sheriff

Brian Heino (R) 38,083

Flathead County Attorney

Travis Ahner (R) 35,141

Flathead County Superintendent of Schools

Cal Ketchum (R) 35,397

Flathead County Treasurer

Adele Krantz (R) 36,886

Flathead Justice of Peace Eric Hummel another term?

Yes 34,019

No 4,022

Flathead Justice of Peace Paul Sullivan another term?

Yes 33,745

No 4,775

Judge Dan Wilson of District 11

Yes 32,758

No 6,151

District Court Judge District 11, Dept 5

Danni Coffman 31,850

Flathead County local option non-medical marijuana tax

For 33,181

Against 12,562

Flathead County local option medical marijuana tax

For 22,364

Against 23,462