Republicans claim 27-23 control in Montana Senate; county's 911 center bond passes

Whether it was Obama-mania or concern over the war in Iraq, the Wall Street meltdown and energy issues, a record number of Montanans cast early ballots in last week's election.

In the Flathead, with the exception of one precinct, 9,032 early ballots went to John McCain and 7,673 went to Barack Obama. All told, 43,562 ballots were cast in the county.

Two Whitefish candidates faced off in the important Senate District 2 race, which joins Whitefish and Columbia Falls. Republican Ryan Zinke defeated Democrat Brittany MacLean by 5,454 to 4,544.

Zinke took all three urban precincts in the Columbia Falls area by 1,391 to 970.

Zinke's victory helped the Republicans claim a 27-23 control in the Montana Senate. Mick Holm's HD 3 loss to Dee Brown was offset by Cheryl Steenson's narrow victory in Evergreen over incumbent Republican Craig Witte, 2,006 to 1,984.

The Montana House is now split 50-50. Last session, the Republicans held a narrow 51-49 lead in the House, with the cooperation of the Constitutional Party's Rick Jore.

A $6.9 million bond to build a new 911 emergency dispatch center passed by just more than 200 votes, but a $10 million open-space bond was soundly defeated.

Monica Eisenzimer, at the Flathead County election department, said there were no problems with voting machines and operations on Nov. 4, but she'd like to see more consistency in voting regulations.

"People need to pay attention to how to vote," she said.

Eisenzimer supports the need for a paper trail to go along with electronic voting, but she notes that it's expensive and counties don't get money from the state or federal governments.

"We spend $30,000 a year on maintenance for the machines," she said. "We buy more than enough ballots for every voter so we don't run out, but they cost 50 cents apiece."