Incumbent Bell wins primary over Coffman in sheriff race
Lake County Sheriff Don Bell was reelected in the June 5 primary, winning against challenger David Coffman.
Bell had 2,854 votes against Coffman’s 1,981.
“I believe that the citizens saw the positive things I’ve changed in the county, and they wanted to see more of that,” Bell said Wednesday, June 6.
Those positive changes include: having eight SWAT-certified officers in the agency, along with two more that will be trained this summer; five officers that are active-shooter instructors, as well as Bell’s attempt to build teamwork between all law enforcement agencies in Lake County.
Both Bell and Coffman ran as Republican, with no other candidates filing in the democratic or green parties in the primary election.
“I congratulate Sheriff Bell a lifelong reisdent for obtaining 59 percent vote,” Coffman said Thursday, June 7.
Going forward, Bell said that he would like to continue to work with local agencies “to combat the drug epidemic,” as well as work with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes to look into having a justice center built.
Coffman also noted last week that positive steps have been taken by Bell in recent months, including the hiring of more reserve officers, increasing the agency’s chaplaincy and paying for K9 training.
Coffman said that he’ll be involved in the community, working to help obtain a resolution with the county jail.
Another popular race in Lake County was for District 20 Judge, with three non-party candidates including incumbent Deborah “Kim” Christopher, Ben Anciaux and Ashley Morigeau.
Christopher and Morigeau will be on the ballot again in the fall, as Christopher received 4,849 votes and Morigeau took 1,620. Anciaux had 958 votes.
A total of 7,843 ballots were cast across 22 precincts in Lake County Tuesday. There are 18,160 registered voters in the county.
More than 35 percent of voters cast a Democrat ballot, while 63.96 percent voted Republican.
For a complete list of election results, visit http://mtelectionresults.gov/