Democrat Paula Koch said she looks forward to serving House District 4 in the 2027 state legislative session. With all precincts reporting on Thursday, Koch beat Republican Shaun Pandina, 2,748 to 2,288, an 11-point margin.

She said her and her team put in a lot of work and she was thankful for the support.

“I did not do this on my own,” Koch noted. She is already looking forward to the session and starts training immediately. She said there are already some issues on her plate she plans on looking at, including education legislation that came out of the interim legislative committee.

She said she’s also heard from a winery owner about onerous state regulations that are making it more difficult for it to do business.

House District 4 covers the city of Columbia Falls and the east side of Whitefish

Koch, a junior high teacher at Columbia Falls High School, estimates she will lose about  $11,698 in salary in order to serve, as she has to pay the district for a substitute teacher while she serves. The figure is the difference between her teaching salary and the $128 per diem pay she gets a as a legislator.

Koch did not win all the precincts that make up the district. For example, Pandina, a conservative Republican, won Precinct 9, which is the southern half of Columbia Falls below Highway 2, earned 696 votes to her 654. He also handily won precinct 11, which is the rural area between Columbia Falls and Whitefish, 446-219.

But Koch won precinct 10, which is the north half of Columbia Falls, 460-407; precinct 12, which is in northern Whitefish, 906-303 and precinct 13, which is also Whitefish, 509-436.

For both Pandina and Koch, this was their first run at state office.

It’s the first time Columbia Falls has had a Democratic House Representative since Zac Perry won in 2018.

In other House District races of local importance, incumbent Democrat Debo Powers easily won over newcomer Republican Derek Peachey in House District 3, which includes the west side of Whitefish and the North Fork, 3,304-2,751.

In House District 5, Republican incumbent Braxton Mitchell easily defeated Democratic challenger Luca Welle, 3,731-1,538.

Mitchell is the House Majority whip. This will be his last term in the state House. Republicans still maintain control of the Montana House and Senate. The biggest win for Democrats was the District 1 Congressional seat, where Sam Forstag beat Republican Aaron Flint, 132,003-122,694.

Fortstag’s win was the first Democrat to win a congressional seat in Montana since Pat Williams won re-election in 1994.

Nationwide, it was a “blue wave” with Democrats taking control of the House and Senate, as President Donald Trump’s approval rating is historically low due to high fuel prices caused by the Iran War and goods and groceries  costing more due to tariffs.

In statewide races with all precincts fully reporting, former U.S. Attorney Republican Kurt Alme won handily, 232,916-181,674 over Independent Seth Bodnar. Democrat Alani Bankhead, who some questioned whether she was a Democrat at all, received 58,555 votes.

Some wanted her to drop out of the race to bolster Bodnar’s chances, and he might have won had she decided to.

In the eastern Montana Congressional race, Republican incumbent Troy Downing easily beat Democrat Brian Miller, 127,346-70,431.

On the county level, incumbent Republican Brad Abell beat Democrat challenger Nathan Dugan 31,813-19,071. Tim Wenz beat Angela Ream, 25,691-17,591 for Justice of the Peace. 

Amy Eddy defeated Dan Wilson 275,202-188,108 for state Supreme Court. All three constitutional initiatives passed both statewide and countywide by wide margins, despite being opposed by many Republicans.

In the Public Service Commission District 5 race, which includes Flathead County, incumbent Republican Annie Bucacek won 50,748-45,408 over Democrat Kevin Hamm.

That vote could be important as the state sees more pressure to build data centers.