Bell elected Sheriff; Salomon, Barron win

POLSON – With the crowded, high-profile race for Lake County Sheriff decided, Sheriff-elect Don Bell has the luxury of time to re-organize the office.

Bell, who defeated three other Republicans in the June 3 primary, does not face a November election as no Democrats filed to run.

Bell, a CSKT Tribal police officer, takes over his new seat Jan. 1.

“That gives me time to choose an Undersheriff and other staff,” Bell said. “After that, the drug problem will be on the top of my list to work on.”

He said he has as many as 13 candidates for the Undersheriff’s job.

Bell won 1,631 votes, about 32 percent. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks warden Rick Schoening scored 1,389 votes.

Undersheriff Dan Yonkin, who Bell is considering, drew 1,201 votes, and Sheriff’s detective Kim Leibenguth garnered 879.

“I felt gratitude for the voters who stood up and said, ‘I trust Don Bell to do what’s right and I’m voting for him’,” he said.

Burdened by past perceptions of office wrongdoings, Lake County Sheriff Jay Doyle did not run for a second term.

House District 93

Incumbent state Rep. Dan Salomon defeated Frank Delgado on the Republican side of the primary for the House District 93 seat with 58 percent of the votes.

The Democrats are languished in a race separated by eight ballots at last count.

Susan T. Evans and former CSKT Tribal Chairman James Steele, Jr., are waiting for provisional ballots and write-ins for the official count.

In a Republican-dominated district, it is almost assured that neither will unseat Salomon in November.

COUNTY ATTORNEY

Steve Eschenbacher will go from one side of the county district courtroom to the other.

A county criminal defender, Eschenbacher displaced County Attorney and prosecutor Mitch Young.

Eschenbacher campaigned for better administration and more transparent leadership.

He gathered 53 percent of the votes, 2,490; while Young mustered 2,223.

LAKE COUNTY COMMISSIONER

With his ubiquitous red pickup, billboards, political signs and grass-roots campaigning, Lake County Commissioner and former sheriff Bill Barron drew a whopping 63 percent of the votes, denying challenger Rory Horning by almost 1,500 ballots.

Only two candidates ran for Justice of the Peace: Incumbent Joey Jayne and Montana Highway Patrol officer Randall Owens.

They will face off in the November general election; ironic because Jayne was elected in a 12-way race for the job in 2012 after the incumbent resigned about halfway through their tenure.

All tallies are not official.