Lake County's Decker, Christopher, Nolan, Hertz, Read get election wins; Tester, Gianforte victorious
Voter turnout was what county officials called “excellent” as ballots were being counted into Wednesday morning for the 2018 Midterm General Election.
A total of 13,534 ballots were cast in Lake County, where 19,286 voters are registered.
“I’m impressed with the enthusiasm from voters who voted during the midterm election,” Lake County Elections Administrator Katie Harding said Wednesday afternoon.
One race that had a lot of buzz through the campaign season was for Lake County commissioner, where incumbent Gale Decker, a Republican, was challenged by Democrat Caroline McDonald.
Decker was re-elected with a vote of 7,622, against McDonald’s 5,604 votes.
Lake County officials will canvass the votes on Monday, No. 19.
In statewide voting, based on votes counted through midday Thursday, incumbent Republican Sen. Jon Tester was the projected winner over Democratic challenger Matt Rosedale for the U.S. Senate seat. At the time, Tester had about 246,00 votes (50 percent) to Rosendale’s 231,000 votes (47 percent).
Rep. Greg Gianforte, the Republican who is filling out a term in the U.S. House, was elected with about 51 percent of the votes counted (about 251,000) compared to Democrat Kathleen Williams’ 46 percent (226,000).
Final tallies that include all the votes in Montana counties are yet to come.
For more information on results, check the Nov. 15 issue of The Lake County Leader.
Lake County Commissioner
Gale Decker, Republican - 7,622
Caroline McDonald, Democrat - 5,604
District Court Judge
Deborah “Kim” Christopher - 7,933
Ashley Morigeau - 4,377
State Representative District 10
Mark Noland, Republican - 813
Bill Jones, Libertarian - 277
State Representative District 12
Susan Evans, Democrat - 2,072
Greg Hertz, Republican - 3,241
State Representative District 93
Eldena Bear Don’t Walk, Democrat - 1,850
Joe Read, Republican - 2,388
U.S. Representative District 1
Kathleen Williams, Democrat - 6,197
Greg Gianforte, Republican - 6,905
Elinor Swanson, Libertarian - 343
U.S. Senator
Jon Tester, Democrat - 6,687
Matt Rosendale, Republican - 6,393
Rick Breckenridge, Libertarian - 352
Public Service Commissioner District 5
Andy Shirtliff, Democrat - 5,557
Brad Johnson, Republican - 7,441
Supreme Court Clerk
Rex Renk, Democrat - 5,370
Bowen Greenwood, Republican - 6,723
Roger Roots, Libertarian - 728
Retain Supreme Court Justice Ingrid Gustafson
For - 9,433
Against - 2,302
Retain Supreme Court Justice Beth Baker
For - 9,618
Against - 2,196
Ballot issues:
Bond K-12 for School District No. 28
For - 704
Against - 617
Referendum 128, Extend Public Higher Education Funds
For - 7,807
Against - 5,226
Referendum 129, Restrict Ballot Collectors
For - 8,168
Against - 4,630
Initiative 185, Increase Tobacco Tax
For - 6,502
Against - 6,857
Initiative 186, Limit New Hardrock Mining
For - 6,208
Against - 7,029