Incumbent Flathead County Commissioner Pam Holmquist fended off a primary challenge and earned the Republican nomination from voters on Tuesday.

With all 42 precincts counted, Holmquist had 7,303 votes to Tim Harmon’s 6,123 in the Republican primary contest for the commissioner seat.

Two local legislative races had close Republican primary contests.

In Senate District 3, state Rep. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, received 1,736 votes to defeat Don Kaltschmidt, who had 1,633.

In House District 11, Derek Skees edged Jean Barragan, 860 to 816.  

An error in a computer chip for the counting machine at the Somers polling place meant the Somers ballots had to be hand-counted, delaying final results in House District 11 until midnight Tuesday.

Holmquist said her conservative approach to the county budget seemed to resonate with voters during her campaign for another six-year term.

Her stand on preserving property rights also generated support among voters, she said.

Holmquist pushed for a property owners bill of rights that was included in the county growth policy.

She further cited her involvement as a board member with Montana West Economic Development. She said her involvement with that group was a positive push for job creation in Flathead County.

“Less government, more opportunity — that’s what voters wanted,” Holmquist said during a celebration at Scotty’s Bar in Kalispell. “I want to thank my family and campaign team and the voters for believing in me and I’m thankful I can proceed to the general election.”  

Holmquist advances to the general election to face Democrat Eileen Lowery.

In national races, Flathead voters favored Bernie Sanders over Hillary Clinton in the Democratic presidential primary.

Sanders received 3,924 votes to Clinton’s 2,985 votes.

On the Republican side, Donald Trump received nearly 76 percent of Flathead County votes.

Voter turnout in Flathead County was 34.31 percent with 21,542 total votes cast. Flathead County has 62,793 registered voters.

Two-thirds of voters cast ballots in the Republican primary.