Primary election ballot-counting starting

12:20 a.m.

With 420 precincts out of 663 fully counted and another 229 partially counted, the early leaders have kept their lead in federal and statewide races and are likely to win the primary election.

Only a few local primaries were contested, generally with no opponent filed in the general election.

That is the case in the race for Hill County public administrator, where Dave Brewer challenged incumbent Maggie Bigleggins in the Democratic primary. Bigleggins won with 1,033 votes to Brewer's 724.

In the Republican primary for House District 33, incumbent Rep. Casey Knudsen of Malta handily defeated challenger Joyce Stone of Glasgow, 1,777 to 845.

In the primaries for Montana's governor, Democratic Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney and U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte advanced to the general election, with Cooney taking 56 percent of the vote and Gianforte taking 54 percent of the Republican ballots. Green Party candidate Robert Barb was unopposed in the primary.

Bryce Bennett was unopposed in the Democratic primary for secretary of state, and looks to face Christi Jacobsen in the general election, who has maintained a lead throughout the night in the Republican primary. In that six-way race, Jacobsen had 29 percent of the vote with Scott Sales close behind with 25 percent, a 7,500 vote margin.

In the attorney general primaries, Raph Graybill has kept his lead, with 58 percent of the Democratic primary votes, while Austin Knudsen has done the same in the Republican primary, with 60 percent of the vote there. Green Party candidate Roy Davis was unopposed.

And the leaders kept their lead in the race for state auditor. Troy Downing had 50 percent of the votes in the Republican primary, while Shane Morigeau had 61 percent in the Democratic primary.

Republican incumbent Elsie Arntzen and Democrat Melissa Romano were unopposed in the primaries for state superintendent of public instruction.

Both President Donald Trump and Joe Biden were unopposed in the presidential primary, though Biden still had two opponents on the race who had withdrawn their candidacy. Trump took 94 percent of the Republican vote and Biden took 76 percent of the Democratic vote.

And the leaders kept their lead in the U.S. Senate primaries.

Incumbent Sen. Steve Daines took 88 percent of the vote in the Republican primary, while Gov. Steve Bullock took 96 percent in the Democratic primary and Wendie Fredrickson took 67 percent of the Green Party ballots.

In the race for the U.S. House of Representatives, state Auditor Matt Rosendale kept his early lead, taking 49 percent in the Republican primary, as did Kathleen Williams in the Democratic primary, taking 90 percent. Green Party candidate John Gibney was unopposed.

Watch for a complete write-up of the final counts in Wednesday's edition of the Havre Daily News.

9:40 p.m.

With 98 precincts -- including the first from Hill County -- fully counted, the early leaders in federal and statewide races are maintaining their leads.

Incumbent U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., and Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock have pretty well swept their primaries in the U.S. Senate race so far, with 96 percent and 88 percent of the votes in their primaries, respectively.

Wendy Fredrickson continues to maintain a strong lead in the Green Party U.S. Senate race, as well,

Kathleen Williams has the lead in the Democratic primary for U.S. House with 90 percent of the vote, and Matt Rosendale still has the lead in the six-way Republican race with 48 percent.

In the gubernatorial race, U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte still has the lead in the Republican primary with 53 percent of the vote, while Democratic Lt.Gov. Mike Cooney leads his race with 55 percent.

In the Republican primary for secretary of state, Christi Jacobsen still has the lead in a tight race, with 30 percent.

In the auditor race, Republican Troy Downing has maintained his lead at 50 percent of the vote while Democrat Shane Morigeau still has the lead in his race with 62 percent.

In the attorney general race, Republican Austin Knudsen still has the lead with 59 percent, as does Raph Graybill in the Democratic primary with 58 percent.

With 9:15 p.m.

With 20 of 663 precincts now fully counted, Republican Austin Knudsen and Democrat Raph Graybill are taking leads in the race for Montana attorney general

On the Democratic ballot, Graybill leads Kimberly Dudick 58 percent to 42 percent, and on the Republican side, Knudsen leads John Bennion 59 percent to 41 percent.

In the state auditor race, Democrat Shane Morigeau leads Mike Winsor 68 percent to 38 percent.

On the Republican ballot, Troy Downing has a large lead with 50 percent of the vote, Nelly Nicol has 20 percent and Scott "Tux" Tuxbury has 30 percent.

9 p.m.

In state races with four of 663 precincts fully counted, U.S. Rep. Greg Gianforte has taken the lead in the Republican primary for governor, Gianforte has 50 percent of the votes while Montana Attorney General Tim Fox has 30 percent and state Sen. Al Olszewski has 20 percent.

On the Democratic side, Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney has 54 percent of the vote while Whitney Williams has 46 percent.

On the Republican side of the race for secretary of state, Deputy Secretary of State Christi Jacobsen has21 percent while former Secretary of State and incumbent Public Service Commissioner Brad Johnson has 26 percent. Montana Senate President Scott Sales has 21 percent, Rep Forrest Mandeville has 10 percent, Clerk of the Montana Supreme Court Bowen Greenwood has 7 percent and Kurt Johnson has 5 percent.

Democrat Bryce Bennett is unopposed.

8:50 p.m.

In the U.S. House race with four of 663 precincts fully counted, Democrat Kathleen Williams leads Tom Winter 89 percent to 11 percent.

On the Republican side, Matt Rosendale leads with 47 percent while Corey Stapleton is not too far behind with 33 percent. Debra Lamm has 8 percent, Joe Dooling 7 percent, Mark McGinley 4 percent and John Evankovich 2 percent.

8:45 p.m.

In Montana's U.S Senate race with three of 663 precincts fully counted, incumbent Republican Sen. Steve Daines and Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock have taken nearly insurmountable leads in their races.

With 79,252 votes counted, Daines leads with 87 percent while John Driscoll has 7 percent and Dan Larson 6 percent.

On the Democratic side, with 64,884 votes counted, Bull5ock has 95 percent of the votes while John Mues has 3 percent, and John Knoles, who dropped out of the race but still is on the ballot, has 2 percent.

On the Green Party ballot, Wendy Fredrickson leads with 59 percent while Dennis Daneke has 41 percent.

8:25 p.m.

With only two of 663 precincts fully counted, The Associated Press just reported that Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden has won the Montana primary.

Biden actually faces no active opposition, but some challengers remained on the ballot in Montana and in other states.

Of 52,002 votes counted, Biden has 73 percent of the vote while Bernie Sanders has 15 percent and Elizabeth Warren 9 percent and 3 percent of the voters had no preference.

Associated Press reports Biden also won primaries today in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Indiana, Rhode Island, New Mexico and South Dakota, putting him closer to the 1,911 delegates he needs to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination.

The Associated Press also reports that President Donald Trump, the only Republican presidential candidate on the Montana ballot, has won the state, as well as Pennsylvania and Rhode Island.

8:05 p.m. The Hill County Clerk and Recorder's office just announced that "the polls are now closed" and the counting of primary election ballots is about to begin.

Contested primaries on the federal, state and local level will be decided in today's election, including for U.S. senator and representative on both sides of the ballot, as well as in the governor's race, auditor, and attorney general.

The Montana secretary of state race has a contested Republican primary, but only one Democratic candidate.

The Montana superintendent of public instruction race is the only one without a contested primary.

Watch here for updates on results as they become available.