Incumbent justices easily defeat challengers

Incumbent Supreme Court Justice Mike Wheat easily turned back a challenge from former state solicitor general Lawrence VanDyke.

By a margin of 59 to 41 percent, Wheat, a former state legislator, keeps a seat he was appointed to in 2010 by then-Gov. Brian Schweitzer.

Outside groups spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on ads and mailers in the race.

Wheat’s contributors were mostly attorneys. VanDyke’s support came from conservative individuals and groups including the Republican State Leadership Committee.

That led Wheat to say the state’s court system was under attack from outside groups seeking rulings in favor of their political leanings.

In a second Supreme Court race, Billings attorney W. David Herbert failed to unseat Justice Jim Rice, who has been on the bench since 2001. Rice claimed 78 percent of the vote.