Voter turnout was what county officials called “excellent” as ballots were being counted into Wednesday morning for the 2018 Midterm General Election.

A total of 13,534 ballots were cast in Lake County, where 19,286 voters are registered.

“I’m impressed with the enthusiasm from voters who voted during the midterm election,” Lake County Elections Administrator Katie Harding said Wednesday afternoon.

One race that had a lot of buzz through the campaign season was for Lake County commissioner, where incumbent Gale Decker, a Republican, was challenged by Democrat Caroline McDonald.

Decker was re-elected with a vote of 7,622, against McDonald’s 5,604 votes.

Lake County officials will canvass the votes on Monday, No. 19.

In statewide voting, based on votes counted through midday Thursday, incumbent Republican Sen. Jon Tester was the projected winner over Democratic challenger Matt Rosedale for the U.S. Senate seat. At the time, Tester had about 246,00 votes (50 percent) to Rosendale’s 231,000 votes (47 percent).

Rep. Greg Gianforte, the Republican who is filling out a term in the U.S. House, was elected with about 51 percent of the votes counted (about 251,000) compared to Democrat Kathleen Williams’ 46 percent (226,000).

Final tallies that include all the votes in Montana counties are yet to come.

For more information on results, check the Nov. 15 issue of The Lake County Leader.

Lake County Commissioner

Gale Decker, Republican - 7,622

Caroline McDonald, Democrat - 5,604

District Court Judge

Deborah “Kim” Christopher - 7,933

Ashley Morigeau - 4,377

State Representative District 10

Mark Noland, Republican - 813

Bill Jones, Libertarian - 277

State Representative District 12

Susan Evans, Democrat - 2,072

Greg Hertz, Republican - 3,241

State Representative District 93

Eldena Bear Don’t Walk, Democrat - 1,850

Joe Read, Republican - 2,388

U.S. Representative District 1

Kathleen Williams, Democrat - 6,197

Greg Gianforte, Republican - 6,905

Elinor Swanson, Libertarian - 343

U.S. Senator

Jon Tester, Democrat - 6,687

Matt Rosendale, Republican - 6,393

Rick Breckenridge, Libertarian - 352

Public Service Commissioner District 5

Andy Shirtliff, Democrat - 5,557

Brad Johnson, Republican - 7,441

Supreme Court Clerk

Rex Renk, Democrat - 5,370

Bowen Greenwood, Republican - 6,723

Roger Roots, Libertarian - 728

Retain Supreme Court Justice Ingrid Gustafson

For - 9,433

Against - 2,302

Retain Supreme Court Justice Beth Baker

For - 9,618

Against - 2,196

Ballot issues:

Bond K-12 for School District No. 28

For - 704

Against - 617

Referendum 128, Extend Public Higher Education Funds

For - 7,807

Against - 5,226

Referendum 129, Restrict Ballot Collectors

For - 8,168

Against - 4,630

Initiative 185, Increase Tobacco Tax

For - 6,502

Against - 6,857

Initiative 186, Limit New Hardrock Mining

For - 6,208

Against - 7,029