Primary election results in, long time incumbent unseated
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POLSON – Local primaries handed out a mixed bag of results last week, as one long-standing incumbent was unseated, but others managed to hang onto their seats.
The upset of the night came via the county attorney’s race, where public defender Steve Eschenbacher beat Mitch Young, who has held the position for 8 years, and has worked in the county attorney’s office for a quarter century. Eschenbacher’s victory was narrow, with 52 percent of 4,713 votes cast. There is no Democratic candidate for the office, which means Eschenbacher is the winner of the race.
In another race where only Republicans filed and the primary determined the winner, incumbent County Commissioner Bill Barron retained his seat, soundly defeating opponent Rory Horning with 62 percent of the vote.
In the four-way race for Sheriff/Coroner, Tribal Police Officer Don Bell led the pack with 32 percent of the 5,100 votes cast. Polson Police Officer Rick Schoening followed with 27 percent. Undersheriff Dan Yonkin and Lake County Sheriff’s Office investigator Kim Leibenguth trailed with 24 percent and 17 percent respectively.
Montana Highway Patrol Sergeant Randal Owens defeated incumbent Justice of the Peace Joey Jayne in the county race with the most votes cast. Owens received 67 percent of the 5,830 votes cast. Because there were only two candidates for the Justice of the Peace position, Owens and Jayne will face off again in the November general election.
The race for district court judge received the second-highest number of votes with 5,787 cast. Incumbent James Manley defeated his opponent Mark Russell by taking 65 percent of the vote.
Lake County Superintendent of Schools Michelle Wood, Lake County Treasurer/Assessor Patti Duford Kugler, and Lake County Clerk and Recorder Paula Holle will all retain their seats, as they were the only candidates to file in their races.
In addition, Lake County voters overwhelmingly approved a mil levy that will provide funding for senior citizens’ services. The measure passed with 65 percent of the 6,065 votes cast in favor.
Proposed formation of government review committees, which are voted on once every decade, failed in three of the four county/city governments. Lake County, Ronan, and St. Ignatius voters decided against instituting a review committee, while voters in the City of Polson narrowly approved the measure by a 51 percent in-favor margin.
Voter turnout for the election was almost 37 percent, with 6,713 of the county’s 18,384 registered voters casting ballots.
The race for state offices were mostly won by narrow margins.
In state House District 93 incumbent Republican Dan Salomon won the primary with 58 percent of the 1,676 votes cast, defeating challenger Frank Delgado.
In the Democratic race for that same seat, Susan Evans squeaked by with just more than 50 percent of the 446 votes cast. Her opponent James Steele received 219 votes to Evans’s 227, in the closest race of the evening.
Only Democrats filed for House District 15’s open seat, meaning that George Kipp III, of Heart Butte, is victorious, after winning 57 percent of the vote. He defeated Eldena Bear Don’t Walk of St. Ignatius.
Democrat William McLaughlin and Republican Greg Hertz will square off in the general election battle for House District 12, since both were the only candidates in their primaries.
In House District 10 Republican Mark Noland and Democrat Ruby Dynneson were the only candidates in their primaries. They both advance to the general election.
In Senate District 8 Republican Liane Johnson and Democrat Lea Whitford were the only candidates in their primaries. They will face off in the general election.
In Senate District 5 Republican Bob Keenan and Democrat Daniel King were the only candidates in their primaries and will face off in the general election.
In the race for Public Service Commission District 5, sole Democratic candidate Galen Hollenbaugh will go on to the general election where he will face Brad Johnson, who received 49 percent of the vote in a three-way Republican primary.
For U.S. Congressional seats, Democrat John Walsh received 63 percent of the vote in the three-way primary race for U.S. senator. He will face off against Steve Daines, who received 83 percent of the vote in the Republican primary. Democrat John Lewis received 59 percent of the vote in the two-person primary for U.S. House of Representatives, and will be pitted against Ryan Zinke in the general election. Zinke won 33 percent of the vote in a 5-way primary.
