Brenneman 'humbled' by election win

Joe Brenneman says he is "humbled" by his victory in the Flathead County commissioner race, and he attributes it to many dedicated supporters and a clean campaign.

"I'm more humbled than anything," he said Thursday. "It's a daunting task, I think, to be asked to lead this county … It's quite a responsibility."

Brenneman defeated Republican Denise Cofer by a mere 137 votes, becoming the first Democrat elected to the commissioners office since Sharon Stratton, who served from 1991-1996.

It's still uncertain whether Cofer will seek a vote recount.

By state law, that request would require her to post a bond to cover the costs of recounting all 38,856 ballots that were cast in Flathead County. A recount cannot be requested until after the county's votes are canvassed on Monday.

Cofer has not returned several calls from the Inter Lake over the last couple of days and Brenneman said he has not heard from her.

Brenneman said he has not analyzed the election results.

"I didn't even watch the election returns come in," he said. "I just kind of figured I had done everything I could do by Monday night."

But he has talked to others who have examined the results, including the commissioner he will replace, Howard Gipe.

"He said I had pretty good support across the county," said Brenneman, who received 18,656 votes to Cofer's 18,519.

Brenneman enjoyed a fund-raising advantage in the campaign. As of Oct. 21, he had raised $20,374 from 211 contributors, well above the $11,890 Cofer raised from 107 contributors.

"I'm a horrible fund-raiser," said Brenneman, who owns and manages a dairy farm near Creston. "But people just were extremely generous. I'm very humbled by the response I received, both financially and support."

Brenneman obviously benefited from voters who supported Republican candidates in other races. Flathead voters went with the Republican presidential and congressional candidates by margins of 60 percent or higher.

"I'm really amazed that we connected with so many people," he said.

Brenneman had particular thanks for his campaign manager, Richard Kuhl, along with Kuhl's wife, Mary Lane Pannell, the campaign treasurer.

"I had some excellent people helping me," he said. "They deserve probably more credit for our success than I do."

Brenneman's campaign themes focused on fiscal conservatism and a more balanced approach to growth and long-range development planning.

Brenneman contended there is "willy-nilly" growth in Flathead County, and it's outpacing county government's ability to provide services.

Brenneman said his campaign may have been helped by advertisements from a political action committee called Truth in Politics, which accused him of being "connected" to a list of "leftist groups."

Brenneman responded with radio spots of his own, flatly calling the Truth in Politics ads "a lie."

"I think in the end [the PAC ads] actually helped me," he said. "I think that smear campaign was not believable to an awful lot of people. I'm hoping that it's indicative that we can run clean campaigns here in the Flathead Valley and stick to the issues."

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com