Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913

Victories for Trump, Zinke and Bullock Projected as Polls Close

Lang, Knudsens, Fahlgren and Jensen Post Wins by Wide Margins

In addition to the State of Montana’s three electoral votes going to Donald J. Trump, who at press time was projected the likely winner of the overall 2016 presidential race, statewide and local races were still in play.

Representative Ryan Zinke was projected to maintain his status as Montana’s sole Representative in Congress, besting challenger Denise Juneau.

Governor Steve Bullock will also maintain his position as Montana’s head of state by defeating challenger Greg Gianforte.

In other statewide races, Dirk Sandefur was projected as the likely winner of Montana’s sole contested Supreme Court seat, overcoming his opponent Kristen Juras.

Also logging projected wins at press time in statewide races were Corey Stapleton (R) for Secretary of State, Tim Fox (R) for Attorney General, Matt Rosendale (R) for State Auditor, and Elsie Arntzen (R) for State Superintendent.

Many local election results for Valley County were anything but close, with county voters selecting G. Bruce Meyers for State Senate District 16 despite Frank J. Smith's projected victory overall.

Mike Lang was the heavy favorite for Senate District 17, carrying a margin of 2,319 to 746.

State Representative District 31 went to the uncontested candidate Bridget Smith. District 33 went to Casey Knudsen in a landslide, and District 34 went to Austin Knudsen, also in a runaway election.

Clerk of District Court went to Shelley Bryan, who ran uncontested. The County Commissioner race for District 2 went to John G. Fahlgren.

Finally, County Attorney went to incumbent Dylan Jensen.

Valley County residents opposed all ballot initiatives, except for Constitutional Initiative No. 116 to establish victim’s rights in the constitution. The race for Constitutional Initiative No. 182 renaming and clarifying the Medical Marijuana Act was extremely close in Valley County, with "No" winning out by a margin of six votes, with 1,944 votes in favor and 1,950 votes against.

Statewide results at press time showed Initiatives 116 and 182 leaning yes, while initiatives 177, prohibiting trapping on public lands, and 181, to invest in and promote brain research, leaning towards "No" at press time.

 

Reader Comments(0)

 
 
Rendered 02/19/2024 22:43