Montanan’s can finally take a sigh of relief as the special election for Montana’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives is over. After 85 days of campaigning, Republican Greg Gianforte won with 50% of the vote with 189,473 ballots cast in his favor. Democrat Rob Quist received 44% with 166,483 votes, and Libertarian Mark Wicks received 6% with 21,509 votes.

Statewide, there was a 54.22% voter turnout with 379,763 of the 700,428 registered voters who showed up at 681 precincts.

In Mineral County Republican Greg Gianforte received 59% of vote with 907, Democrat Rob Quist received 35% of the vote with 538, Libertarian Mark Wicks received 6% with 99 votes. With a countywide turnout of 1,544 votes.

Superior precinct 24 was close with Gianforte receiving 47% or 64 votes. Quist had 45% with 62 votes, and Wick had 6% with 9 votes. In precinct 25, Gianforte had the lead with 66%, 227 votes, Quist had 27% with 93 votes, and Wicks had 6% with 23 votes. In Superior precinct 30 Gianforte had 61% with 270 votes, Quist with 32%, 144 votes, and Wicks 6% with 28 votes.

West End results had Gianforte with a large 67% lead, with 69 votes. Quist had 23%, with 24 votes, and Wicks with 8%, 9 votes.

In Alberton, Quist had the lead with 49% with 134 votes, Gianforte was close with 45%, 123 votes. Wicks had 5% with 14 votes. In St. Regis Gianforte was way ahead with 61%, 154 votes, Quist had 32% with 81 votes and Wicks had 6% with 16 votes.

The election broke spending and fundraising records as candidates vied for the seat vacated by Ryan Zinke who was appointed as Secretary of the Interior by President Donald J. Trump. Gianforte is a wealthy Bozeman businessman who sold a technology company he founded in Gallatin County for $1.8 billion to Oracle in 2012. Quist is a musician and poet from Creston who toured for years with the Mission Mountain Wood Band. Wicks is an Army veteran from Inverness.

The evening before the election Gianforte had an altercation with a reporter from The Guardian newspaper. He was accused of shoving the reporter to the ground, breaking his glasses at his campaign headquarters in Bozeman. Gianforte was charged with misdemeanor assault and could be fined $500 or six months in jail if convicted. The case is being reviewed by Gallatin County Attorney Marty Lambert.

During the election, Gianforte aligned with President Trump and billed himself as a “business guy”. He supports the wall between the U.S. and Mexico and the repeal and replacement of the Affordable Care Act. He also brought Donald Trump Jr. to the state twice for rallies across the state. Quist had U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders at his rallies last week and emphasized that he would work to preserve the Affordable Care Act and fund programs like Planned Parenthood.

Election advertising from outside groups spent more than $7.1 million and both candidates reportedly raised more than $7 million. This is compared to $9.5 million spent last fall with Zinke ran against Democrat Denise Juneau for the seat.