GOP sweeps all legislative races
Pulling off a narrow win in a hard-fought contest in Whitefish, Republican Derek Skees delivered a clean sweep for the GOP in Flathead County legislative races Tuesday night.
Skees tallied 1,936 votes, almost 100 more than the 1,849 votes for his opponent in the House District 4 race, Democrat Will Hammerquist. The seat has been held for the last three terms by Rep. Mike Jopek, D-Whitefish, who decided not to seek re-election this year.
The race was one of the most active in the Flathead Valley, in terms of advertising by both the candidates and several political action committees that got involved.
"Phenomenal," Skees said afterwards. "Outstanding and amazing. We were such an underdog in this district and this race ... I'm just so humbled. I don't have the words to describe it. We worked so hard."
Skees said the results unfolded in a strange way, with the vote tally favoring Hammerquist until about 10 p.m. He offered thanks to his supporters and "the good people of House District 4."
Hammerquist, for his part, was proud of his campaign.
"We worked hard on turning out our voters. We made over 1,000 phone calls today, and we felt we were doing well. That's the beauty of democracy - every election we get to select our leaders... I would really like to thank my supporters, and thank everyone who turned out to vote."
Hammerquist said of Skees that "he's a tireless campaigner, and I hope he does the right thing for our schools and the Flathead Valley."
In the closely watched race between three candidates in House District 8, Republican Steve Lavin won with 1,444 votes, followed by Democrat Bryan Schutt with 1,017 votes and independent candidate Bill Jones with 285 votes.
House District 8 has been unpredictable for years. Democrat Cheryl Steenson won in 2008 over Republican incumbent Craig Witte by 14 votes. In 2006, Witte beat Democrat Randy Kenyon by 37 votes. In 2004, Democrat Tim Dowell defeated Witte by 165 votes.
Republican Jerry O'Neil prevailed in the Columbia Falls area House District 3 race with 1,725 votes, followed by Democrat Zac Perry with 1,299 votes and independent candidate Shawn Guymon with 283 votes. O'Neil has served in the state Senate for the last eight years but could not seek re-election because of term limits. He is eligible to serve in the House.
In Senate District 4, Republican Jon Sonju prevailed with 3,961 votes, followed by Democrat Mary Reckin with 1,881 votes. Sonju currently serves in the House, but opted to run for the seat held by Sen. Greg Barkus, R-Kalispell, who could not seek re-election because of term limits.
In the race to succeed Sonju in House District 7, Republican Randy Brodehl won with 2,237 votes over Democrat Karen Reeves, who had 851 votes.
Sen. Verdell Jackson, R-Kalispell, was re-elected in Senate District 5 with 5,690 votes, followed by Democrat Edd Blackler with 1,934 votes.
In House District 6, Republican incumbent Bill Beck won with 3,176 votes, followed by Democrat Scott Wheeler with 1,535 votes.
In the Bigfork area's House District 9, Republican incumbent Scott Reichner won with 2,390 votes, followed by Democrat Neal Brown with 808 votes.
In the Somers-Lakeside area's House District 10, Republican incumbent Mark Blasdel won with 3,508 votes followed by Democrat Carla Augustad with 908 votes.
Republican Keith Regier won in House District 5 with 3,534 votes. Democrat James Mahnke trailed with 873 votes.
In House District 11, which crosses covers parts of Lake and Flathead counties, Republican incumbent Janna Taylor won with 2,435 votes, followed by Democrat Cheryl Wolfe with 134 votes.