Dupont beats Hall in primary; Democrats support Obama locally
Chris Peterson/Hungry Horse News | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 16 years, 7 months AGO
Former Flathead County Sheriff Jim Dupont beat incumbent Gary Hall in the Republican primary for Flathead County Commissioner by a wide margin Tuesday, 7,837 to 3,475.
The win for Dupont almost assures that Hall will not have a second term in office. Dupont was a well-liked sheriff for 16 years. He said he's only going to serve one term.
In other races of note, Democrat Brittany MacLean edged Gil Jordan 1,238 to 1,093 for the Senate District 2 seat and Republican Ryan Zinke beat Suzanne Brooks, 1,414 to 619. The District covers Whitefish and Columbia Falls.
In House District 5, which covers the southern end of rural Columbia Falls, Keith Regier topped Harm Toren 1,074 to 543.
On the Presidential side Flathead County voters favored Democrat Barack Obama over Hillary Clinton by a wide margin. Obama got 6,360 votes to Clinton's 3,992 votes. Obama also won the state primary and has secured the Democratic nomination.
His wife, Michelle, made a trip to Kalispell for a call rally Monday. About 100 people came to support the cause at the KM Building in Kalispell.
"We weren't supposed to be here," Mrs. Obama told the crowd. "(They said) there's an inevitable candidate … and it wasn't him."
Obama also said race and gender weren't a key issue.
"They don't care about race and gender," she said. "They want to know, ?an I trust you?'"
She said there's a lot to be excited about in this country, but now the hard part starts. Obama is the first black man to represent a major party in a presidential election. The Democratic primary was so close that Montana drew the attention of Barack Obama and Hillary and Bill Clinton. All of them made several appearances in the state. Bill Clinton also came to Kalispell, speaking to about 3,000 people at Flathead Valley Community College last month.
On the Republican side of the presidential race, county voters favored John McCain 7,570 to 3,568 over Ron Paul. Paul had a lot of vocal support here, but the quiet voters put McCain over the top by a wide margin.
Other races of note:
¥ U.S. Senator: Max Baucus, Democrat, 9,518 (unopposed). Republican: Bob Kelleher, 3,737, Michael Lange, 1,835, Kirk Bushman, 1,288, Patty L. Lovaas, 856, Anton A. Pearson, 878 and Shay Joshua Garnett, 310.
¥ U.S. House of Representatives: Republican Denny Rehberg, 10,525 (unopposed); Democrat Jim Hunt, 3,805, John Driscoll, 3,443 and Robert Candee, 522.
¥ Governor and Lt. Gov.: Democrat Brian Schweitzer and John Bohlinger, 9,308, William Fischer and Steve White, 538 and Donald Pogreba and Jason Neiffer, 185. Republican Roy Brown and Steve Daines, 7,414, Larry H. Steele and Harold Luce, 1,927.
¥ Attorney General: Democrat Mike Wheat, 3,311, Steve Bullock, 2,530, John Parker, 2,121. Republican, Tim Fox, 5,177, Lee Bruner, 3,847.
¥ Superintendent of Public Instruction: Democrat, Denise Juneau, 3,271, Holly Raser, 1,488, Sam Kitzenberg, 1,477, Claudette Morton, 1,318. Republican Elaine Sollie Herman, 8,635 (unopposed).¥ Supreme Court Justice: Mike McGrath, 13,694, Ron Waterman, 3,544.
You can see complete county results at flathead.mt.gov/election/downloads.php.
ARTICLES BY CHRIS PETERSON/HUNGRY HORSE NEWS
Montanans for Multiple Use loses suit against Forest Service
A federal court in Washington, D.C. has struck down all the claims brought by Montanans for Multiple Use and other multiple use groups that claimed the Flathead National Forest was closing roads and revising its forest plan in an illegal manner.MFMU filed the complaint in June of 2003, claiming the Flathead wasn't following several federal laws when it amended its forest plan some 23 times in more than 15 years.The multiple use group claimed that the amendments amounted to a "de facto" rewrite of the forest plan.The court disagreed on several different fronts, the most damning being that MFMU and other groups simply didn't follow administrative procedures when they brought their claim. For example, if an amendment to a forest plan is brought forth, a group that opposes it must go through an administrative appeal process ?by writing letters of protest, etc. ?before it can file suit.The court found the groups simply didn't do that ?they just decided to sue the federal government. In their defense, they claimed they didn't know what the amendments meant until they were already in place ?but the court didn't buy that argument. In fact, the court likened it to the parable of the frog in a pot of boiling water. The frog, as the story goes, is placed in a pot of cold water. Raise the heat a degree at a time and the frog doesn't realize it's being boiled.But if you throw the frog in the boiling water it jumps out ?or at least tries to.In this case, however, MFMU never proved its case that it was futile to go through the administrative appeal process.MFMU also claimed the Forest wasn't following the law because it hadn't revised its forest plan in the past 15 years as required by law. But the court noted that forest plan revision was well under way and that Congress had extended the deadlines to rewrite forest plans.MFMU was supported by several other groups, including Flathead County, Northwest Montana Gold Prospectors, Owens and Hurst Lumber Co., the Flathead Snowmobile Association and several other multiple use and motorized land use advocates, including Leland's Honda."We are pleased with the court's ruling and will continue working to achieve the balance that multiple use management requires on National Forest System lands," Flathead National Forest Planning Staff Officer Rob Carlin said in a prepared release.The case was heard in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.MFMU chairman Fred Hodgeboom could not be reached for comment. The case was decided by chief judge Thomas F. Hogan.
Dupont beats Hall in primary; Democrats support Obama locally
Former Flathead County Sheriff Jim Dupont beat incumbent Gary Hall in the Republican primary for Flathead County Commissioner by a wide margin Tuesday, 7,837 to 3,475.
Plowing the Sun Road, Many Glacier 'slow going'
It's been a slow go plowing the Sun Road and Many Glacier over the past week as the weather went from bad, to great, to lousy again in the past few days in Glacier National Park.