Bertling wins five-way primary
BONNERS FERRY — The winner between the five Republican candidates for the County Commissioner District 2 seat is Tim Bertling, who received 842 votes in the May 19 primary election. The results of the mail-in election were announced Tuesday night by the Boundary County Clerk’s office.
Other candidates for the county commissioner position were Phillip Sweet (559 votes), Will Hedrick (464), Tim Tucker (319), and Aaron Surprenant (181).
The non-partisan, city of Bonners Ferry dam referendum received overwhelming approval from voters. There were 506 “yes” votes to 52 “no” votes, so the referendum passed with 90.68 percent approval.
There were many positions with only one candidate seeking their party’s nomination. These included Republican Sheriff Dave Kramer, an incumbent, who received 2,219 votes. His November opponent, Democrat Larry “Doc” Vandenberg, received 253 votes.
In District 1 Boundary County race, Republican Wally Cossairt was unopposed and received 2,117 votes in the primary.
In the race for Boundary County Prosecuting Attorney, Republican Andrakay J. Pluid received 2,124 votes.
The May 19 primary election was extended to June 2 for votes to be counted. Those who dropped off their ballots at the locked box outside the courthouse were safe in that they would be counted up until June 2.
In Idaho Legislative District 1, Jim Woodward, running unopposed for the Republican nomination for the Idaho Senate seat, received 2,205 votes in Boundary County and 5,479 votes in Bonner County. Running unopposed for the Democratic Party nomination, Vera Gadman received 352 votes in Boundary County and 1,822 votes in Bonner County to earn that party’s nomination for the general election in November.
In Idaho Legislative District 1, Heather Scott ran unopposed for the Republican nomination for the Idaho House of Representatives 1A seat. She received 1,932 votes in Boundary County and 4,559 votes in Bonner County. Running unopposed for the Democratic Party nomination for the seat was Gail Bolin, who received 361 votes in Boundary County and 1,857 votes in Bonner County.
In Idaho Legislative District 1, incumbent Sage Dixon won the Republican Party’s nomination for the 1B House of Representatives seat over challenger Gary Suppiger. Dixon received 2,030 votes in Boundary County and 4,562 votes in Bonner County while Suppiger received 317 votes in Boundary County and 1,534 in Bonner County. Dixon will face Stephen F. Howlett, who won the Democratic Party’s nomination with 1,813 votes in Bonner County and 407 votes in Boundary County. He was unopposed in the race.
In Boundary County, incumbent U.S. Sen. Jim Risch received 2,180 votes in the Republican Party and will seek re-election in November. On the Democratic Party ticket, Paulette Jordan had 379 votes over Jim Vandermaas, who received 51 votes. Jordan also won the statewide vote and will oppose Risch in November.
In the U.S. House of Representatives’ Congressional District 1, incumbent U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher received 1,717 votes in Boundary County and Nicholas Jones received 455 votes in the Republican Primary. Fulcher was also the district-wide winner. On the Democratic side of the ballot, Staniela Nikolova received 166 votes while Rudy Soto garnered 223 votes; Soto won district-wide and will face Fulcher in November’s general election.
Supreme Court Justice Gregory W. Moeller received 2,328 votes, Supreme Court Justice John R. Stegner received 2,319 votes, and Appellate Court Judge Amanda K. Brailsford received 2,335 votes.
In the precinct committeeman races, Bill A. Blumenauer received 295 for the Bonners Ferry/Kootenai precinct and Nancy E. Wycoff received 56 votes for the Bonners Ferry/Kootenai precinct. Tim Dillin received 203 votes for the Copeland precinct, and Mike Sheppard received 32 votes for the precinct. Caleb Davis received 544 votes for the Moyie Springs precinct, Dave Wenk received 351 for the Naples precinct, Stephen Howlett received 73 votes for the Naples precinct, Patrick Murphy received 354 votes for the North Bonners Ferry precinct, Greg Johnson received 77 votes for the North Bonners Ferry precinct, Linda Alt received 327 votes for the Valley View precinct, Jessic Vickers received 71 votes for the Valley View precinct.
Ballots that were mailed in by way of post office should have been mailed prior to June 2, so that this mail could be ensured to have reached the county clerk’s office for counting.
The historic Idaho mail in, absentee ballot, election is the first of its kind for Boundary County.
“We have surpassed our highest number of voters at any given primary,” said Glenda Poston, Boundary County Clerk.
Poston said that her office began processing the ballots within two to three days of receiving a request for a mail in ballot.
Out of a total of 6,651 Boundary County registered voters, 3,043 votes were counted for this June 2 primary election. The percentage of voter turnout, prior to the same day voter registration, is 45.8 percent.