Recount: Brenneman still wins

Vote totals shift slightly in commissioner race

A recount of the Flathead County commissioner election results requested by GOP candidate Denise Cofer widened the margin of her defeat by four votes.

After the ballots were retallied Wednesday, results showed Democrat Joe Brenneman with 18,675 votes, or just over 50 percent. Cofer had 18,540 votes, about 49.7 percent. There were also 68 votes for write-in candidates.

Brenneman gained eight votes in the recount, and Cofer gained four. The final margin of victory was 135 votes - up from the 131-vote margin given after votes were canvassed Nov. 8.

"The results weren't what we wanted, but life goes on," Cofer said Wednesday in her first public comments since the election. "When God closes one door, He opens another, so we'll see what He has in store."

She said that "the primary losers, and their nasty, vicious campaign against me" tipped the race in Brenneman's favor. A group called Republicans for the Flathead, which included three candidates Cofer had defeated in the GOP primary, placed ads urging Republicans to vote for the Democrat in the race.

The results indicate Brenneman did receive some Republican support, since Flathead voters went for the GOP in other races by margins often exceeding 60 percent.

"It's a relief to have it settled," Brenneman said of the recount. "It's good to test the system, and it looks like the system worked pretty well."

He said he's been meeting with commissioners Gary Hall and Howard Gipe to get up to speed on issues facing the county. He is replacing Gipe, who is retiring.

One of the matters to be settled is which boards Brenneman will participate in. Commissioners represent the county on entities such as the 911 board, the DUI task force and the health department board.

Generally, the incoming commissioner takes over the slots of his or her predecessor, but Brenneman noted Wednesday that there seems to be an imbalance - Hall is on more than a dozen boards and Gipe serves on nine, while commissioner Bob Watne has only two assignments.

In the recount, six clerks re-scanned about 38,900 ballots from 7 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Wednesday. The Flathead County Republican Central Committee posted a check for about $1,900 to cover the recount's costs. Since the count didn't take as long as anticipated, some of that money may be returned, although that hasn't been determined yet.

Brenneman will take office at the beginning of January.

Reporter Alan Choate may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at achoate@dailyinterlake.com