Bullock, Zinke fend off challengers; Republicans run the table in statewide races

Missoula Current

Montanans reelected Gov. Steve Bullock to a second term by a slim margin Tuesday, as the incumbent outlasted a day dominated by Republican challengers in statewide and national races.

As of 7 a.m., Bullock and running mate Mike Cooney had a 49 percent lead to GOP nominee Greg Gianforte’s 47 percent.

Otherwise, the results were mostly favoring Republicans, led by standard bearer Tim Fox, who held a commanding lead in his bid for reelection as Montana’s attorney general.

With more than 4443,000 votes in, the Secretary of State’s Office showed Fox with 67 percent of the votes to 32 percent for Democrat Larry Jent.

The GOP’s Corey Stapleton was leading Monica Lindeen for secretary of state, while Matt Rosendale had a 9-point lead over Jesse Laslovich. The Rosendale-Laslovich race remained close, and had traded the lead several times into Wednesday morning.

For state Superintendent of Public Instruction, the race between Democrat Melissa Romano and Republican Elsie Arntzen opened up Wednesday morning, with Arntzen taking a 52 to 47 percent lead.

On the national level, Montanans reelected Republican Ryan Zinke to the state’s sole seat in the U.S. House, with Zinke leading Democratic challenger Denise Juneau by 56 percent to 39 percent.

Montana went solidly for GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, with 57 percent to 35 percent for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.