LOCAL NEWS

Modified Ben
Graham Memorial

Jr. golfer fundraiser

Submitted by Dann Rohrer

 

In keeping Ben Graham’s spirit alive we have modified the tournament this year keeping social distance guidelines, and all CDC recommendations. The tourney will be held on Saturday and Sunday, June 27 and 28.

The tournament again will open with an optional practice round on Friday, however, we will not have the traditional Derby because of CDC recommendations. Saturday’s rounds will start at 8 a.m. You can call the clubhouse and make your group and tee time or ask to be put into a group. Sunday will also include tee times keeping with social distancing using Saturdays scores and flights.

Entry fees will remain the same $70 for members and $90 for non-members. We will also have hole prizes, Skins, and Duce pots will be available. There will not be a dinner this year, again using CDC recommendations, but we encourage you to order from the Clubhouse or support the local Libby establishments. We will donate the cost of the meal to the Jr. Golf Foundation.

With the difficulty we have all faced this year, we are not having raffles and active fundraising, however, we will welcome any donations to the Ben Graham Jr. Golf Foundation. To donate, just contact any committee member or the Clubhouse.

To get a registration form, visit golflibby.com or stop by the Clubhouse.

Ben Graham was a standout golfer for Libby High School before graduating in 1973. In college Ben was an All-American golfer before turning pro in 1978.  Graham died in 1985 in an early morning car accident near Happy’s Inn while on an ice fishing trip to McGregor Lake. This tournament keeps Ben’s spirit alive and continues his love for Junior Golf.

We feel that with the modifications we have made, this will be a very safe and enjoyable experience.

The Ben Graham committee thanks you for your support.

June 3 Primary Election results in review

By Brian Baxter

 

Lincoln County voters stepped in time with voters across the state of Montana with local results from the June 2 primary election mirroring the statewide results in all but one of the state and national primaries. In the democratic primary election for the positions of attorney general in Montana, Lincoln County voters supported Kimberly Dudek, the winner of the race statewide was Raph Graybill with 57.09% of the vote.

96,000 more ballots were cast statewide than in the 2016 presidential primary election. In Lincoln County, the all mail-in election format saw 5,396 votes cast in the Republican presidential primary to just 1,879 on the democratic side.

President
Statewide, nearly 59% of the primary votes cast in the race for president were Republican with Donald Trump earning 93.84% of those votes.   Joe Biden won 74.48% of the Democratic party primary votes. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren shared 22.68% of the ballots cast on the democratic side.

Governor
The race for Governor of Montana will be contested in November between Republican Greg Gianforte and Democratic Mike Cooney. Both took just over half of their party’s primary votes statewide and both won Lincoln County by a slightly wider margin than that. Lyman Bishop ran unopposed for the Libertarian party position and Robert Barb was the unopposed Green party Candidate for Governor.

US Senate
Steve Bullock and Steve Daines took resounding victories in the Democratic and Republican primaries for the US Senate seat, respectively. They will be joined on the ballot in November by Green party candidate Wendy Frederickson who took seven of the 13 Green party ballots cast in Lincoln County and two thirds of the votes in her party statewide, and Susan Good Geise who ran unopposed on the Libertarian party ballot.

Montana Attorney General
The aforementioned Raph Graybill will represent the Democrats in the attorney general race against Austin Knudsen who won nearly 60% of the Republican ballots statewide and won Lincoln County be a nearly two to one margin over Jon Bennion.   They will be joined in November by Green party candidate Roy Davis who ran unopposed.

Montana Secretary of State
Christi Jacobsen won a hotly contested Republican primary for the Secretary of State race with just under 30% of the vote.   Scott Sales and Brad Johnson came in second and third statewide with Johnson edging out Sales in Lincoln County by a count of 1,065 to 945. Jacobsen will face off against Democrat Bryce Bennett in November. He ran unopposed on the Democratic ticket.

US House of Representatives District 1
Matt Rosendale won just under 50% of the Republican primary ballots cast.   It was enough to easily defeat Corey Stapleton and the rest of the five candidates who challenged him on the ballot.   He will face off against Democrat Kathleen Williams, who routed challenger Tom Winter in the Democratic race, in November. They will be joined by Green party candidate John Gibney who ran unopposed.

Public Service Commission District 4
Democrat Monica Tranel will face off against Republican Jennifer Fielder in November. Tranel took over 75% of the vote to defeat Daniel Carlino.   Fielder collected just 44.9% of the Republican votes in a three-candidate race. It was enough to ensure her a nearly 10% margin of victory over Will Deschamps who finished second. Champ Edmonds finished third with just shy of 20% of the vote.

Montana State House of Representatives Districts 1 & 2
There were no races to follow in the State House primary. All four candidates ran unopposed in their party’s primary election. In November Democrat Marv Sather will face off against Republican Steve Gunderson for the District 1 seat. Republican Neil Duram will face Democrat Lori Ramesz for the honor of representing District 2.

State Supreme Court Justice #5 and Justice #6
Laurie McKinnon won the non-partisan primary for Supreme Court Justice number five with just over 53% of the vote. Mike Black finished second and will advance to the November ballot. Mars Scott finished third and was eliminated from the competition. Jim Shea ran unopposed for the position of Justice number 6.

Superintendent of Public Instruction
Kevin Leatherbarrow, Melissa Ramano and Elsie Arntzen won unopposed primaries for the Libertarian, Democrat and Republican parties respectively and will face off against each other on the ballot in November.

State Auditor
Republican Troy Downing and Democrat Shane Morigeau won their primary elections and will battle for the position of State Auditor in November. Downing defeated Scott Tuxbury by just over 10% in the Republican primary while Morigeau won by 23% over Mike Windsor on the Democratic ticket.

The general election will be held on Tuesday November 3 nationwide.   More information about the election in Lincoln County is available at http://lincolncountymt.us/elections/elections-home.