Former undersheriff Curry wins primary election

West Shore News

Former undersheriff Chuck Curry will become the new Flathead County sheriff.

He defeated incumbent Mike Meehan and Deputy Sgt. Lance Norman in the Republican primary Tuesday, June 8, by gaining 46.3 percent of the ballots.

Curry is now the presumptive winner of the November general election as no Democrats or members of other parties filed to run for the position.

Meehan had 31.5 percent of the vote, and Norman had 19.9 percent.

Turnout sat around 28 percent for Tuesday's primary election. Of the 58,584 voters in Flathead County, 16,528 total ballots were cast.

Here are some of the results from other local races. Winners from each party will advance to the November election.

FLATHEAD COUNTY

Incumbent Clerk and Recorder Paula Robinson will retain her position after outdistancing fellow Republican Rebekah Eslick Savelle with 65.6 percent of the vote. Robinson will be unopposed in November.

Incumbent Flathead County Commissioner Joe Brenneman will face Republican Pam Holmquist in the November election for the District 2 seat.

Brenneman remains the Democrat in the race with 71.65 percent of the vote. He was challenged by Creston business owner Noel Gorton, who received 22.59 percent.

Holmquist beat out two other challengers for the Republican spot on the ballot. She garnered 44.8 percent of the vote to beat out former commissioner Howard Gipe with 36.3 percent and contractor Patrick Nickol with 11.5 percent of the vote.

JUDGES

In the contested judge races that were narrowed in the primary, Mark Sullivan and Travis Bruyer will advance to the general election for the position of Flathead County Justice of the Peace Department 2 with 31.3 percent of the vote and 24 percent of the vote, respectively. Judge races are nonpartisan, so the top two candidates head to the general election in November. Candidate Eric Hummel received 20 percent of the vote and Paul Sullivan 6.7 percent.

For the new district court judge position, current Justice of the Peace David Ortley, with 42.4 percent of the vote, and Kalispell City Judge Heidi Ulbricht, with 25.6 percent of the vote, will both move on to the November election. Attorneys Phyllis Quatman and Rich DeJana earned 13.8 percent and 10.6 percent of the votes, respectively.

LAKE COUNTY

Election clerk Ann Smith Bower will be the next Lake County commissioner for District 2.

Bower beat out three other Republican challengers for the spot on the November ballot. No other parties had candidates file for the position, so she is the presumed winner.

Bower had 1,651 votes followed by Merco Inc. owner Ron Merwin with 1,199, farmer Roy Anderson with 516 and county bridge department employee Paul Tryon with 409.

Lake County Undersheriff Jay Doyle won a three-way race for the Republican nomination for sheriff. He earned 1,729 votes compared to Jeffrey Kingery's 1,583 and Ronan Assistant Police Chief Arthur "Art" Walgren's 502.

Doyle will face Democrat Dan Yonkin and Independent candidate Steven R. Kendley in November.

Incumbent Janna Taylor won the Republican nomination for House District 11 with 71 percent of the vote — 1,291 votes. She was challenged by J. Garth Cox, who received 16 percent and 298 votes and Josh D. King with 12 percent and 218 votes. Taylor will face Green Party candidate Cheryl Wolfe on the ballot in November.