Zinke wins Republican nomination for U.S. House

In the hotly contested U.S. House race, Whitefish resident Ryan Zinke won the Republican nomination with 33 percent of the vote.

The former state senator will go on to face John Lewis in the Nov. 4 election. Lewis rolled to victory in the Democratic House primary, defeating John Driscoll.

The results in the GOP primary weren't certain in the early going. Sen. Corey Stapleton took an early lead until Zinke surged ahead in the wee hours.

Zinke tallied 43,552 votes to defeat Stapleton (38,511 votes) and state Sen. Matt Rosendale (37,924). State Sens. Elsie Arntzen picked up just 9,041 votes and Drew Turiano earned 2,277.

"It's been a very tough, arduous primary," Zinke said. "I think I'm going to be stronger because of it, and I think the Republican Party will unify."

Flathead County voters were in line with the statewide results. Lewis earned 66 percent of the Democrat votes in the county, while Zinke earned 43 percent of the GOP votes in his home turf. Rosendale was the closest Republican, taking 34 percent of the county votes.

The 52-year-old Zinke raised the most money in the campaign with $1.2 million as of mid-May. But he also spent more than $1 million to win the nomination.

Lewis is making his first run for public office after serving for 12 years as an aide to Sen. Max Baucus. Lewis has $518,862 cash on hand, as of the May 14 report.

Montana's House seat opened up when GOP Rep. Steve Daines decided to run for Senate.