Local results from 2022 primary elections are in

The unofficial primary election results have been released in Hill County, and in local races Hill County Deputy Clerk and Recorder Lexis Dixon has won the Democratic primary in the race for Hill County Clerk and Recorder, and although Republican Steve Chvilicek of Havre won the county in his race to unseat incumbent Sen. Russ Tempel, R-Chester, in the race for Senate District 14, with results in the rest of the district it appears Tempel won the primary.

The printer on the ballot counting machine broke after 12 precincts were counted Tuesday night in Hill County after the polls closed at 8, and the staff at the Clerk and Recorder’s Office stayed for some two-and-a-half more hours trying to get it working, but went home about 1:30 a.m. hoping the count could resume today.

Wednesday afternoon, the final results, unofficial until the count is canvassed, were released.

In the race for Hill County Clerk and Recorder, Dixon won with 675 votes and Tina Salazar, who resigned from her position as a deputy clerk and recorder not long after filing as a candidate, received 387. Dixon is unopposed in the general election.

Senate District 14 includes Liberty County, Havre and western Hill County, Chouteau County mostly outside of the boundaries of Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation and the northeastern corner of Cascade County.

In that Senate race, Chvilicek received 859 votes in Hill County and Tempel received 635.

In Liberty County, Tempel received 510 votes to Chvilicek’s 332 and in Chouteau County Tempel received 728 votes to Chvilicek’s 450.

The Secretary of State’s website said Wednesday that with 18 of 26 precincts in the district fully reported and another eight partially reported, Tempel was ahead with 2,049 votes and Chvilicek had 1,758.

Dave Brewer of Havre is the Democratic candidate in that race. The Secretary of State’s website reported this afternoon he had 982 votes in his unopposed primary race.

In Blaine County, incumbent Commissioner Frank DePriest lost the Republican primary to challenger Shane Fox, 152-372.

Todd Jorgensen, the Democratic candidate in that race, received 50 votes in his unopposed primary.

The Blaine County local option marijuana excise tax passed with 823 votes in favor and 193 against.

In Liberty County, incumbent Sheriff/Coroner/Public Administrator Nickolas Erickson won the Republican primary with 474 votes. Darbie Wentworth received 236 votes and Jim Hofer received 153.

In the Republican primary for Chouteau County commissioner, incumbent Clay Riehl won with 680 votes while Dan Wirth received 534.

In the Republican primary race for PSC District 1, incumbent Randy Pinocci received 1,053 votes in Hill County and challenger K. Webb Galbreath had 503.

In Blaine County, Pinocci received 484 votes to Galbreath’s 175. In Liberty County, Pinocci won with 426 votes to Galbreath’s 217, and in Chouteau County 752 votes and Galbreath received 320.

The Secretary of State’s website reported Wednesday that with 160 of 172 precincts fully reported and another 12 partially reported, Pinocci had 20,545 votes and Galbreath had 10,444.

Pinocci has no opposition in the general election.

In the nonpartisan race for state Supreme Court Justice 2, incumbent Ingrid Gustafson had 1,151 votes in Hill County with James Brown taking 983 and Michael McMahon taking 523.

In Blaine County, Gustafson received 345 votes, Brown 432 and McMahon 185, while in Liberty County, Brown took the most votes with 409, with Gustaftson receiving 221 and McMahon 108. Brown also took the most votes in Chouteau County with 592 to Gustafson’s 498 and McMahon took 220 votes.

The Secretary of State’s website said Wednesday that with 637 of 663 precincts fully reported and another 12 partially reported, Gustafston had 123,794 votes, Brown had 92,799 and McMahon had 39,653. Gustafson and Brown will advance to the general election as the top-two vote-getters.

In the race for Supreme Court Justice 1, both incumbent Jim Rice and his opponent, Bill D’Alton, will advance to the general election. In the nonpartisan primary, Rice received 184,509 votes and D’Alton received 57,476.

Rice received significantly more votes in the primaries in Blaine, Chouteau, Hill and Liberty counties, 752-194, 1,031-240, 2,065-552 and 605-125, respectively.

In the race for U.S. House District 2 — it is the first election since the 1990s that Montana has two House districts — incumbent Rep. Matt Rosendale won the Republican primary hands down, both in Hill County and in the district.

Rosendale received 1,258 votes in Hill County and challenger Kyle Austin of Billings, a Hill County native, received 318, while James Boyette received 80 and Charles Walkingbird received 94.

In Blaine County, Rosendale received 619 votes, Austin 93, Boyette 38 and Walkingchild 31.

In Chouteau County, Rosendale had 873 votes to Austin’s 176, Boyette’s 63 and Walkinchild’s 114, while, in Liberty County, Rosendale received 77 votes, Austin 94, Boyette 35 and Walkingchild 53.

The Secretary of State’s website said that, with 345 of 357 precincts fully reported and another 12 partially reported, Rosendale had 73,130, Austin 11,884, Walkingchild 5,883 and Boyette 5,671.

In the Democratic primary for that race, Penny Ronning received in Hill County 408 votes and Skylar Williams received 276. Mark Sweeney, who died May 6 after the ballots already had been printed with his name on them, received 350.

In Blaine County, Ronning received 93 votes and Williams 84 while the voters gave Sweeney 96 votes posthumously.

In Chouteau County Ronning received 79 votes, Sweeney 66 and Williams 44, and in Liberty County 13 votes to Sweeney’s 15 and Williams 5.

Secretary of State’s website said Wednesday that with 345 of 357 precincts fully reported and the remaining 12 partially reported, Ronning received 21,887, Williams 6,992 and Sweeney received 8,550 posthumously.

In the Libertarian primary for the District 2 House seat, Sam Rankin received 10 votes in Hill County, Roger Roots received 4 and Samuel Thomas received 2.

In Blaine County, Rankin received 7 votes, Roots 3 and Thomas 1, while in Chouteau County Rankin recieved 12, Roots 4 and Thomas 1 and in Liberty County Roots received the sole vote in the Libertarian primary, with Rankin and Thomas receiving none.