Mineral, Sanders county election results

The COVID-19 pandemic did little to discourage voters from placing their ballots in the mail box.

According to official statistics, more than 65 percent of voters in Sanders County mailed in ballots for the June 2 primary election.

With the pandemic shuttering polling places across the country, Montana’s all-mail primary saw huge voter participation.

More than 5,075 ballots were cast in Sanders County, including 3,815 Republicans.

For the District 13 state Representative post Denley Loge had 878 votes to Mark French’s 537.

Three Republicans and two Democrats vied for their respective party’s District 4 spot on the Montana Public Service Commission.

Republican Bob Lake of Hamilton termed out and current state Senator Jennifer Fielder was the runaway winner on the Republican side with 2,484 votes.

Former Montana GOP Chair Will Deschamps (736) and former State Rep. Richard “Champ” Edmunds (328) finished well behind Fields.

For the Democrats, Monica Tranel’s 877 votes bested Daniel Carlino’s 221.

The district includes Lincoln, Sanders, Mineral, Granite, Powell, Missoula and Ravalli Counties.

For District 7 state Senator, Democrat Diane L. Magone got 930 votes, easily routing Gerald J. Cuvillier, who had 168.

On the Republican side, Bob Brown collected 3,253 votes.

For District 13 state Representative, Democrat Colleen Hinds ran unopposed and collected 590 votes. Republican Paul C. Fielder was also unopposed and had 1,776 votes. Overall, Fielder had 2,751 votes while Hinds had 784.

In local races, voters made their picks for precinct committee members in Plains and Heron.

For Precinct 6 committeman in Plains, Kenneth C. Matthiesen edged Jesse Byler, 272-248.

For Precinct 1, Heron, Daniel Jones outpolled Christopher Stough, 99-78.

For Precinct 6 committewoman in Plains, Mary Halling was unopposed and claimed 526 votes of 554 cast.

For Precinct 1 committewoman in Heron, Brandi L. Jones’ 109 votes were enough to best Nadiya Stough’s 65.

For Clerk of Courts, Candy Fisher was unopposed and tallied 4,121 votes.

In the District 3 Commissioner race, A. Ben “Tony” Cox was an easy winner over Christopher Stough, 2,886-1,620.

Nevertheless, both men will face each other in the November election.

In Mineral County, voter participation was also high with 3,021 ballots cast.

In the District 14 state Representative race, Loge routed French, 929-236.

Loge totaled 1,950 votes to French’s 810.

For the Public Service Commissioner District 4 seat, Tranel also outpolled Carlino, 288-82, on the Democratic side.

On the Republican ticket, Fielder had 697 votes while Deschamps had 304 and Edmunds 104.

Tranel, who collected 25,882 votes, will face Fielder (16,662) in the general election.

In the District 7 state Senator race, Magone collected 393 votes to Cuvillier’s 39 on the Democratic ticket. Her opponent will be Republican Bob Brown who had 962 votes. Overall, Brown had 5,359 votes while Magone had 1,598.

For Clerk of District Court, Jaime Talbot was unopposed and had 1,003 votes.

For the West End District County Commissioner spot, Duane Simons bested Peggy Stevens, 579-518.

For the District 4 Court, Department 4 Judge seat, Jason Marks topped Robin Hammond, 688-588.