Challenger beats incumbent in Kalispell council upset

Kalispell City Council challenger Ryan Hunter unseated Ward 3 incumbent Rod Kuntz in Tuesday’s municipal election.

Hunter received 367 votes, while Kuntz, who has served on the council since 2014, received 256 votes.

During his campaign, Hunter touted his experience in community-based conservation work with the Flathead Land Trust and a leadership role with the Flathead Trails Association. He served in the U.S. Peace Corps in Slovakia, working to steer international financing toward local and sustainable economic opportunities and later earned a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from Portland State University.

Hunter said he feels he will bring a “new and fresh perspective” to the council as a first-time council member.

“My priorities are going to be affordable housing, planning-related topics,” he told the Daily Inter Lake Tuesday night. “I hope to work with my fellow councilors to work on drafting a plan based on a needs assessment that identifies strategies to address affordable housing in the community.”

Hunter also vowed to return to the controversial ordinance making it a civil infraction to sleep in vehicles on city streets that was narrowly approved in September.

“One of the first things I’ll do is work to repeal that,” he promised.

“It was my first time running for public office. It was a lot of work...it was a tough race,” Hunter said. “Rod did a good job of working hard. He was a tough competitor and I have a lot of respect for how hard he worked.”

Hunter added, “I encourage others to consider running for office, too. One thing that shocked me when I got involved was so many races are uncontested. I think our democracy is healthier when there’s a competitive race.”

Before he joins the council in January, Hunter said he plans on “putting more work in, studying up on the issues and thinking about the policies I want to pursue.

“I worked hard to get here and I plan to work hard while I’m on the council,” he said. “I’m going to want to perform my best for the community and the trust that people put in me.”

In Kalispell’s Ward 1, incumbent Kari Gabriel was unopposed and garnered 502 votes. Ward 2 candidate Sam Nunnally was unopposed in his bid for a council seat, earning 640 votes.

In Ward 4 Sid Daoud was unopposed and won with 251 votes.

Columbia Falls voters re-elected all three incumbents, including Doug Karper with 405 votes, Darin Fisher with 432 and John Piper with 463 votes. Challengers Steve Hughes received 215 votes, and Clay Lundgren got 212 votes.

In Whitefish, City Council incumbent Frank Sweeney easily won re-election, garnering 887 votes, the most of any of the five candidates.

Also elected were Steve Qunell with 836 votes, and Rebecca Norton barely inched out Ben Davis for the third open council seat, winning 755 votes while Davis got 751 votes, according to results posted on the Flathead County Election Department website. Harry “Hap” Peters got 463 votes.

Incumbent Whitefish Mayor John Muhlfeld was re-elected to a third term with 1,149 votes.

Qunell is no stranger to Whitefish city government. He served on the Whitefish Planning Board for more than six years and was board chairman for four of those years. He served on the Whitefish Board of Adjustment for four years, and the Lakeshore Protection Committee for three years.

Norton also has served on various Whitefish city committees and boards, including the Board of Adjustment, Tree Committee, two terms on the Planning Board, chair of the Wisconsin Avenue Corridor Planning Committee. She also was elected to the Local Government Review Commission.

Voter turnout in Flathead County’s municipal elections overall was just 17.59 percent. Of the 23,647 registered voters eligible to vote in the municipal elections, 4,160 cast their votes.