Election 2014: Down to the wire

Hi-Line political leaders spent the weekend making last-minute campaign visits and preparing for get-out-the-vote efforts for Tuesday’s elections.

Both political parties said they were optimistic that their candidates would fare well in the voting.

Hill County election officials said that 77 percent of the 2,802 people who had ballots mailed to them had returned them as of Friday afternoon. They are anticipating a flurry of ballots in the mail today and Tuesday, perhaps reaching the 97 percent that came back in 2012.

But fewer people asked for mail ballots this year, said Sue Armstrong, Hill County clerk and recorder. Two years ago, 3,749 people asked for mail ballots. There is usually a smaller turnout in off-year elections, she said.

Hill County Democratic Chair Brenda Skornogoski said that although there are no polls to prove it, she feels confident that the Democratic ticket, State Sen. Greg Jergeson and state House candidates Janet Trethewey of Havre and Clarena Brockie of Hays will prevail Tuesday.

Jergeson’s contest with state Rep. Kris Hansen, R-Havre, has garnered statewide attention. Skornogoski said many moderate Republicans are supporting Jergeson because he has a reputation of working hard across the aisle. That will help him in the traditionally Republican rural parts of the district. That, combined with a strong showing in Havre, traditionally a Democratic stronghold, should put Jergeson over the top, she said.

Not so fast, said Hill County Republican Chair Andrew Brekke.

Hansen has been working very hard in the rural parts of the district — Chouteau and Liberty counties and rural parts of Hill County.

People in the rural areas appreciate getting candidates at their doors because they sometimes feel forgotten, he said.

And Hansen carried Havre four years ago, he recalled.

“I think people might be surprised,” he said.

Both chairs said their parties are working hard to get the vote out for the elections.

In other local contests:

• In House District 28, Stephanie Hess, a Republican, will take on Democrat Trethewey.

• In House District 27, a sprawling district that runs from the Canadian border to the Great Falls city limits, Republican incumbent Roy Hollandsworth of Brady faces Democratic challenger Robert Laas of Chester.

• In House District 34, which in includes the Rocky Boy’s and Fort Belknap Indian reservations and neary ranch lands, Republican Bruce Meyers is challenging Democratic incumbent Clarena Brockie in the heavily Democratic area.

• State Rep. Mike Lang, R-Malta, faces off with Democrat Mike Finley of North Havre in a redrawn House District 33 that runs from Glasgow to Wild Horse.

Voters in Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation will pick four people to serve on the eight-member tribal council.

Voting faces:

• Mail-in ballots have to be received by the clerk and recorder’s office by 8 p.m. Tuesday. Hill County Clerk and Recorder Sue Armstrong reminded people that if they have not mailed back their ballots by now, they should bring them in to the office. They have to be in the office by 8 p.m. Postmarks don’t count, she said.

• For people voting in person, polling places will be the same as in the primary. People with questions can consult the legal notice that was in Wednesday’s Havre Daily News, check the Montana secretary of state’s website or call the clerk and recorder's office at 265-5481.

• People should remember to bring some kind of identification when they go to the polls. A driver’s license or picture ID of some kind is best.