Shoshone County takes to the polls

By CHANSE WATSON

Managing Editor

WALLACE — Voting trends show that midterm elections normally don’t draw the crowds that presidential elections do. But on Tuesday, Shoshone County voters showed that a presidential race doesn’t have to be on the ballot to get people motivated to hit the polls.

This most recent Nov. 6 election saw a 66.87 percent voter turnout (4,344 of 6,496 registered voters) in the county. This is a drastic improvement on this year’s primary election turnout of 30 percent, but a slight drop compared to the 2016 general election turnout of 73.9 percent.

As for how those votes were cast, Shoshone County picks lined up exactly with the overall winners on the state level.

In the contested race for the District 1 Representative in Congress, Shoshone County voters selected the overall winner, Russ Fulcher (R), by 56.30 percent margin (2,328 votes) over his six opponents. Fulcher’s stiffest competition was Christina McNeil (D) who garnered 34.51 percent of the local vote (1,427).

Behind Fulcher and McNeil was Natalie Fleming (I) with 119 votes, Paul Farmer (I) with 111, Pro-Life (CON) with 72, W. Scott Howard (LIB) with 50, Gordon Counsil (IND) with 23, and write-ins with 5.

In arguably the headline race of the night for the state, Shoshone County selected overall winner Brad Little (R) for Governor by giving him 2,564 votes (60.10 percent). Coming in second in the general, Paulette Jordan (D) also took silver locally by getting 1,623 votes (38.05 percent).

Leading up the rear was Bev “Angel” Boeck (LIB) with 43 votes, Walter L. Bayes (CON) with 33, and write-ins with 3.

In the straight-forward Lieutenant Governor race, overall winner Janice McGeachin (R) took Shoshone County with 60.43 percent of the vote (2,515 votes) compared to Kristin Collum (D) with 39.57 percent (1,647 votes).

For Secretary of State, Shoshone County picked overall winner Lawerence Denney (R) by giving him 61.34 percent of the vote (2,555 votes) compared to his Democratic opponent, Jill Humble, who received 38.66 percent (1,610 votes).

For Attorney General, overall winner Lawrence Wasden (R) handedly won Shoshone County with 62.25 percent of the vote (2,574 votes) with Bruce Bistline (D) coming in second with 37.75 percent (1,561 votes).

Lastly for state level candidates, Shoshone County supported another term for overall winner Sherri Ybarra (R) by giving her 58.55 percent of the vote (2,447 votes), while Democrat Cindy Wilson garnered 41.45 percent (1,732 votes).

As for initiatives, local voters narrowly shot down Proposition 1 by a count of 2,138 votes Against (50.27 percent) to 2,115 vote For (49.73 percent). In contrast, Proposition 2 was overwhelmingly approved by a 2,473 to 1,772 vote margin.

The uncontested state races of Controller (Brandon Woolf, R, 3,327 votes), Treasurer (Julie A. Ellsworth, R, 3,321), Legislative District 7 State Senator (Carl G. Crabtree, R, 3,290), Legislative District 7 State Representative Position A (Priscilla Giddings, R, 3,236), and Legislative District 7 State Representative Position B (Paul E. Shepherd, R, 3,239) all went to the lone candidates.

In the county, registered voters where able to cast votes for candidates in the positions of County Commissioner (1st and 3rd Districts), Clerk, Treasurer, Assessor, Magistrate Judge and Coroner. Of these races, only the District 3 Commissioner, Clerk and Treasurer races were contested.

Incumbent Dist. 3 Commissioner John Hansen (D) held onto his seat by beating out challenger Matt Beehner (I) by receiving 2,176 votes (54.76 percent) to Beehner’s 1,798 (45,24 percent).

Longtime incumbent Ellen Masterson (D) also held onto her Treasurer position by getting 2,291 votes (60.24 percent) compared to challenger Robin Stanley (R) who received 1,578 (39.76 percent).

In a race for the open seat of Clerk, Tamie Lewis-Eberhard (D) took the win with 2,029 votes (51.93 percent) to Melissa O’Connell’s (I) 1,878 (48.07 percent).

The uncontested county races of District 1 Commissioner (Mike Fitzgerald, D, 2,961), Assessor (jerry White, D, 3,368), Magistrate Judge (Barbara Duggan, 2,975) and Coroner (Richard Smith, D, 3,220) all went to the lone candidates.

The following are the breakdowns of the contested county races by precinct:

- Totals (* Denotes winner)

County Commissioner Dist. 3:

John Hansen — 2176

Matt Beehner — 1798

County Clerk:

Tamie Lewis-Eberhard — 2029

Melissa O’Connell — 1878

County Treasurer:

Ellen Masterson — 2391

Robin Stanley — 1578

- Murray, Precinct 1

County Commissioner Dist. 3:

John Hansen — 28

Matt Beehner — 57

County Clerk:

Tamie Lewis-Eberhard — 30

Melissa O’Connell — 49

County Treasurer:

Ellen Masterson — 41

Robin Stanley — 41

- Mullan, Precinct 2

County Commissioner Dist. 3:

John Hansen — 147

Matt Beehner — 70

County Clerk:

Tamie Lewis-Eberhard- — 115

Melissa O’Connell — 101

County Treasurer:

Ellen Masterson — 151

Robin Stanley — 69

- Wallace, Precinct 3

County Commissioner Dist. 3:

John Hansen — 230

Matt Beehner — 148

County Clerk:

Tamie Lewis-Eberhard — 180

Melissa O’Connell — 177

County Treasurer:

Ellen Masterson — 258

Robin Stanley — 111

- Silverton, Precinct 4

County Commissioner Dist. 3:

John Hansen — 123

Matt Beehner — 64

County Clerk:

Tamie Lewis-Eberhard — 77

Melissa O’Connell — 96

County Treasurer:

Ellen Masterson — 108

Robin Stanley — 71

- Osburn, Precinct 5

County Commissioner Dist. 3:

John Hansen — 347

Matt Beehner — 201

County Clerk:

Tamie Lewis-Eberhard — 267

Melissa O’Connell — 261

County Treasurer:

Ellen Masterson — 351

Robin Stanley — 186

- Kellogg, Precinct 6

County Commissioner Dist. 3:

John Hansen — 367

Matt Beehner — 345

County Clerk:

Tamie Lewis-Eberhard — 406

Melissa O’Connell — 297

County Treasurer:

Ellen Masterson — 418

Robin Stanley — 289

- Wardner, Precinct 7

County Commissioner Dist. 3:

John Hansen — 36

Matt Beehner — 19

County Clerk:

Tamie Lewis-Eberhard — 39

Melissa O’Connell — 19

County Treasurer:

Ellen Masterson — 41

Robin Stanley — 16

- Smelterville, Precinct 8

County Commissioner Dist. 3:

John Hansen — 78

Matt Beehner — 82

County Clerk:

Tamie Lewis-Eberhard — 70

Melissa O’Connell — 90

County Treasurer:

Ellen Masterson — 83

Robin Stanley — 80

- Pinehurst, Precinct 9

County Commissioner Dist. 3:

John Hansen — 247

Matt Beehner — 278

County Clerk:

Tamie Lewis-Eberhard — 277

Melissa O’Connell — 257

County Treasurer:

Ellen Masterson — 291

Robin Stanley — 250

- Kingston, Precinct 10

County Commissioner Dist. 3:

John Hansen — 241

Matt Beehner — 204

County Clerk:

Tamie Lewis-Eberhard — 260

Melissa O’Connell — 188

County Treasurer:

Ellen Masterson — 260

Robin Stanley — 190

- Calder, Precinct 11

County Commissioner Dist. 3:

John Hansen — 16

Matt Beehner — 49

County Clerk:

Tamie Lewis-Eberhard — 12

Melissa O’Connell — 51

County Treasurer:

Ellen Masterson — 28

Robin Stanley — 42

- Clarkia, Precinct 12

County Commissioner Dist. 3:

John Hansen — 16

Matt Beehner — 19

County Clerk:

Tamie Lewis-Eberhard — 16

Melissa O’Connell — 20

County Treasurer:

Ellen Masterson — 23

Robin Stanley — 15

- Avery, Precinct 13

County Commissioner Dist. 3:

John Hansen — 5

Matt Beehner — 12

County Clerk:

Tamie Lewis-Eberhard — 5

Melissa O’Connell — 10

County Treasurer:

Ellen Masterson — 8

Robin Stanley — 9

- Absentee, Precinct 14

Commissioner Dist. 3:

John Hansen — 295

Matt Beehner — 250

County Clerk:

Tamie Lewis-Eberhard — 275

Melissa O’Connell — 262

County Treasurer:

Ellen Masterson — 330

Robin Stanley — 209