GOP locks up most legislative seats

By JIM MANN/The Daily Inter Lake

Republicans strengthened their hold on Northwest Montana legislative seats Tuesday night.

Out of 12 races in and around Flathead County, GOP candidates won 10, with one race too close to call.

Ryan Zinke, a first-time candidate, prevailed in Senate District 2 with a 52- to 44-percent margin over Democrat Brittany MacLean (numbers do not add up to 100 percent because of write-ins and "under votes," when voters do not vote for a candidate).

Because the seat currently is held by Sen. Dan Weinberg, a Democrat from Whitefish, it was a swing race that could strengthen the Republicans' position in the Montana Senate.

"I'm pretty confident that people could see that I'm a Montana-first guy," said the former Navy SEAL commander at the Flathead County Republican election party in the Outlaw Inn.

Zinke said he was frustrated by negative campaigning driven by the state Democratic Party, rather than his opponent. "Negative campaigns are hurting our community, because what they do is discourage good people from running."

Bruce Tutvedt, another first-time candidate, was also at the party celebrating his 58- to 36-percent win over Democrat Mark Holston in Senate District 3.

"I'm excited. It was a fun race. I enjoyed it," Tutvedt said. "We ran a positive campaign and we stayed above the fray. I'm proud of how we did things."

One of the tightest legislative races was in House District 4, with Rep. Mike Jopek, D-Whitefish, leading Republican challenger John Fuller by just 19 votes at one point late in the night. But with most absentee ballots counted just after midnight, he was leading by nearly 500 votes.

In House District 8, incumbent Rep. Craig Witte, R-Kalispell, was narrowly trailing Democrat Cheryl Steenson by 1,889 to 1,869. It was unclear how many votes were still uncounted.

Republican Dee Brown regained the House District 3 seat she lost two years ago to Rep. Doug Cordier, D-Columbia Falls, who did not seek re-election. Brown defeated Democrat challenger Mick Holm, 54 percent to 41 percent.

Rep. Jon Sonju, R-Kalispell, retained his House District 7 seat with a dominant win over Democratic challenger Shannon Hanson.

In House District 6, Rep. Bill Beck, R-Kalispell, was the winner with 48 percent of the vote. Democrat Scott Wheeler finished with 40 percent and Constitution Party candidate Timothy Martin got just under 5 percent.

In House District 5, Republican Keith Regier defeated Democrat Jake Pannell handily. The win keeps a House seat in the GOP column, with incumbent Rep. George Everett, R-Evergreen, unable to seek re-election because of term limits.

In House District 9, Republican Scott Reichner was the winner with 60 percent of the vote, and Democrat Edd Blackler getting 32 percent.

In House District 10, Rep. Mark Blasdel, R-Somers, defeated Democratic challenger Carla Augustad, 70 percent to 24 percent.

Rep. Janna Taylor, R-Proctor, defeated Democrat Pat Estensen by a 2-to-1 margin in House Dsitrict 11.

With most precincts reporting, Sen. John Brueggeman, R-Polson, was leading Constitution Party candidate Neal Donohue in Senate District 6 by a comfortable margin.

And in early Lincoln County returns, Republican Gerald Bennett was leading in House District 1 over Democrat Eileen Carney and Constitution Party candidate Freeman Johnson.

In House District 2, Rep. Chas Vincent, R-Libby, was winning with 62 percent of the vote, followed by Democratic challenger Timothy Linehan with 38 percent.