GOP holds on to local legislative advantage

The Daily Inter Lake

There was no net change in the number of Republicans and Democrats elected to Northwest Montana legislative seats, but two House districts changed hands.

In the Columbia Falls and Canyon area's House District 3, Democrat Doug Cordier knocked off incumbent Republican Dee Brown by 235 votes.

But in the Kalispell core area's House District 8, Republican Craig Witte defeated Democrat Randy Kenyon by 45 votes. That seat had been held by Democrat Tim Dowell, who could not seek re-election because of term limits.

Perhaps the biggest turnaround came in Lake County's House District 12, where Constitution Party candidate Rick Jore defeated Democratic incumbent Jeanne Windham 55-45 percent. Windham defeated Jore two years ago through a court ruling that found that several ballots were flawed; the decision created a 50-50 split in the House.

Republicans held on to nine of 12 House seats and three Senate seats in Flathead, Lincoln and Lake counties.

"I was real pleased," said state Sen. Bob Keenan, R-Bigfork, who chairs the Flathead County Republican Central Committee. "We split the two [House] races that were of most concern in the Flathead. We won one and we lost one. But in general, Flathead County performed really well, given the fact that two years ago there was a lot of concern about a divide and a rift in the Flathead County Republican Party. Everybody pulled together and buried the hatchet."

Statewide legislative results were still unclear Wednesday, but Keenan was hopeful that there would be Republican gains in the House.

"It looks like that's a strong possibility," he said. "But right now it's hard to tell."

John deNeeve, chairman of the Flathead County Democratic Central Committee, said there was genuine surprise and disappointment among Democats.

"I really did think we had an excellent slate of candidates … All of the candidates worked incredibly hard, so it was a surprise, and we have a Democratic governor, and we thought that would help us as well."

But Flathead County's voter demographics are hard to overcome, deNeeve said.

"One thing we realize is, there's no doubt that Flathead County is a strong Republican county," he said. "We thought we would do better because we thought we did a better job … It was just a hard disappointment for all of us."

In Senate District 4, incumbent Sen. Greg Barkus, R-Kalispell, defeated Democrat Gerald Reckin 62-37 percent.

Rep. Verdell Jackson, R-Kalispell, moved into the Senate District 5 seat, defeating Democrat Ric Smith 61-38 percent. Jackson could not seek re-election to the House because of term limits.

Rep. Mike Jopek, D-Whitefish, defeated Republican challenger Erik Jerde 62-37 percent.

Rep. George Everett, R-Evergreen, defended his seat, defeating Democrat Linda Jacquette 68-31 percent.

In Senate District 6, Republican Bill Beck won with 47 percent of the vote, followed by Democrat Scott Wheeler with 40 percent and Constitution Party candidate Rick Komenda with nearly 12 percent.

Rep. Jon Sonju, R-Kalispell, defended his seat with a 66-33 percent win over Democrat Dale McGarvey.

Rep. Bill Jones, R-Bigfork, was re-elected to the House District 9 seat with a 64-35 percent win over Democrat Edd Blackler.

In the Lakeside area's House District 10, Republican Mark Blasdel defeated Democrat Carla Augustad 73-26 percent. The seat is currently held by Rep. Bernie Olson, R-Lakeside, who was defeated by Blasdel in the June primary election.

Rep. Janna Taylor, R-Proctor, defended her seat with a 69-30 percent win over Democrat Denise Peterson.

Sen. Aubyn Curtiss, R-Eureka, turned back a challenge from Democrat Coral Cummings with a 55-45 percent win.

Rep. Ralph Heinert, R-Libby, defeated Democrat Eileen Carney by just 18 votes in House District 1, with Constitution Party candidate Russell Brown getting 172 votes.

In the Eureka area's House District 2, Republican Chas Vincent won with 54 percent of the vote, followed by Democrat Ken Utter with 39 percent and Constitution Party candidate Freeman Johnson with 5 percent.

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