It was incumbents 2, challengers 1, Tuesday in a field of five contested legislative primary battles across Flathead County.

Lifetime Flathead resident Bruce Tutvedt appeared to hold off newcomer Rollan Roberts II in a highly contentious Republican primary race in Senate District 3, holding on to a narrow lead throughout the night.

Roberts had the largest campaign war chest of any candidate competing in Flathead County, collecting more than $30,000 to do battle, but it wasn’t enough to unseat Tutvedt, who was Senate president pro tem in the 2011 session. Tutvedt raised more than $20,000 in his re-election bid, according to campaign finance reports filed through June 1.

Tutvedt, a West Valley rancher, had 45 percent of the vote, compared to Whitefish businessman Roberts, who got 43 percent. Jayson Peters, who dropped out of the race, still managed to canvass 11.5 percent of the vote. Tutvedt will now move on to face Democrat Shannon Hanson in the November general election.

There were three other contested Republican primaries for legislative seats, along with one rare contested Democratic race in House District 4.

In the Democratic battle, retired forester Ed Lieser was able to hold off former Whitefish City Attorney Tom Muri, 63 percent to 37 percent. Lieser faces Republican Tim Baldwin in the fall.

In the other GOP races:

— In Senate District 2, former Rep. Dee Brown of Hungry Horse handily won a three-way race. Brown had 51 percent of the vote while state Rep. Bill Beck of Whitefish had 36 percent and Whitefish activist Suzanne Brooks received 13 percent.

Brown steps up to meet Democrat David Fern of Whitefish in November.

— In Senate District 6, incumbent Sen. Carmine Mowbray of Polson, who was appointed to fill out an unfinished term, lost to term-limited Rep. Janna Taylor of Rollins.

This race saw lots of money spent by independent PACs on record-challenging mailers, some of which were disputed for accuracy. Taylor had 45 percent and Mowbray had 42 percent. Businessman Michael Larson of Polson trailed with 13 percent. The winner of this race is the presumptive nominee, because the Democratic and Green party candidates were removed from the ballot for filing problems.

— In House District 9, incumbent Rep. Scott Reichner of Bigfork overwhelmingly fended off a challenge by Frank Mutch of Finley Point.

Reichner won 66 percent of the vote compared to 34 percent for Mutch. Reichner faces Democrat Rodrik Brosten in November.