A difference of 47 votes may have decided the House District 3 race in an upset win by Democrat Zac Perry.

In the three-way race, Perry, who received 1,541 votes (48.57 percent), defeated Republican incumbent Jerry O’Neil, who had 1,494 votes (47.08 percent).

Libertarian candidate Chris Colvin trailed with 136 votes (4.29 percent).

There are still roughly 200 provisional ballots in Flathead County that will be counted Monday.

Perry, 36, will become one of two Flathead County Democrats in the state House of Representatives. He will join Ed Lieser, who won re-election in House District 5.

Perry and Lieser were the only bright spots for Democrats in Flathead County. Republican candidates won all other Flathead County legislative races by overwhelming margins.

Perry is holding off on celebrating his legislative win.

“I can’t really call it a win just yet,” Perry said, noting the provisional ballots. “I don’t want to get ahead of anything — it’s just a close race.”

O’Neil has served 12 years in the Legislature.

In a letter to supporters, O’Neil said, “If I had kept my mouth shut it is likely I would have won the race. I did not keep quiet.”

It has been an exciting campaign for Perry, an unsuccessful candidate for the Montana Legislature in 2010 and 2012.

Perry said the game-changer in this election was having a campaign manager for the first time and reaching out to voters through modern and traditional means. Perry said campaign manager Barry Conger kept him motivated.

“I think we were highly visible,” Perry said. “We worked really hard, knocked on a lot of doors and social media was something our campaign utilized.”

Perry said he was up until roughly 2:45 a.m. Wednesday waiting for precincts to report in, watching the votes go up and down.

“It was agonizing,” Perry said.

If Perry secures the House District 3 seat after provisional ballots are counted, he said, “I’ll take a couple of days to breathe and then it’s time to get to work.”

During a brief phone interview Wednesday, O’Neil, 71, said the race was an “uphill battle.”

In the letter thanking supporters, O’Neil cited his outspoken views and a third-party candidate (Colvin) as factors contributing to his defeat.

Citing Colvin’s support for Medicaid expansion, O’Neil said that it was ironic that people who voted for Colvin in hopes of a smaller government would have gotten the opposite.

During the phone interview, O’Neil said he wasn’t certain he would run for office in the future.

“It’s not on my bucket list at the moment,” O’Neil said.

O’Neil caps a legislative career that includes four years in the House and eight years in the state Senate.

“I think I accomplished some things — helped advance freedom, smaller government and helped protect families,” O’Neil said.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at [email protected].