Pinocci wins PSC race for District 1 seat

With the final precincts counted in the race for the seat in Public Service Commission District 1, Sun River Republican Randy Pinocci held onto his substantial lead and won the race.

Pinocci took 44,772 votes to Havre Democrat Doug Kaercher’s 30,183 in the uncanvased unofficial count.

The count was delayed when lines of voters in Cascade County set the process back hours, with votes still being counted Wednesday.

Pinocci said this morning he is looking forward to taking the seat vacated by Great Falls Republican Travis Kavulla, who could not run for re-election due to term limits.

“It’s an honor for me to represent the people in District 1,” Pinocci said.

Kaercher could not be reached for comment this morning.

Pinocci thanked Kaercher for running “a really clean campaign.”

“I would like to say that Doug was an honest opponent.” he said. “There were no negative attacks, It’s always great to see that.”

He said he and Kaercher seemed to approach the campaign with the same attitude.

“I just wanted people to look at the voting records and make a decision on that,” Pinooci said.

He said he wants to work to make improvements in the district over the next four years, especially in the area of mobile phone coverage.

“If we don’t have coverage and a cell phone doesn’t work, I want to fix that,” Pinocci said. “In four years there are going to be some improvements.”

He said he also hopes to work to get teams of people put together in areas to look at and bring to his attention issues of concern, and that he will be available to speak to groups or organizations about PSC issues, ranging from taxi service to telecommunications and energy, if they are interested.

He also said he will be working to remove his campaign signs in the 19-county district, which ranges from Teton County through Cascade and Fergus counties and along the Hi-Line to the North Dakota border. If people see a sign that was missed, they should contact him at 406-264-5391 to let him know so he can have it removed, he said.

People can reach him at that number after he takes office to ask him questions or talk about concerns, he added.