Tester wins, Knudsen loses: A look at how Lewis and Clark voters did compared to rest of state

As the last ballots are filed both local and statewide, Lewis and Clark County shows bluer results than most of Montana .

Locals rallied behind Democrats Jon Tester and Ben Alke for senator and attorney general, respectively, in Tuesday's election.

For the Senate race, longtime incumbent Tester would fall to newcomer Republican Tim Sheehy, who claimed 53% of statewide votes over Tester's 45%, according to results posted on the Montana secretary of state's website.

But locally, Tester prevailed. He took 52% of Lewis and Clark County's 40,606 votes, compared to Sheehy's 46%.

Statewide, Alke was defeated by Republican incumbent Austin Knudsen for attorney general, taking only 40% of ballots to Knudsen's 60%.

Lewis and Clark County held a far tighter race, giving Alke victory with 50% of the vote and Knudsen 49%.

Other races went to Republicans, but many Queen City voters were more generous with the blue candidate than in state results.

The tallies likely come as no surprise as Helena, the county seat, has long been a blue city in a county that leans Democrat in elections.

In both Lewis and Clark County and Montana, Donald Trump took the presidential majority vote, but he won by slimmer margins on the local level.

Statewide, the gap was wider between the lead candidates, with Trump holding 59% of the vote compared to Harris's 38%.

In Lewis and Clark County, Trump took 51% of the vote while Kamala Harris took 45%.

For governor, Montana voted to keep Republican Greg Gianforte over Democrat Ryan Busse, 59% to 38%. Locally, Gianforte only won 51% to Busse's 46%.

For the second congressional representative, Montana elected Republican Troy Downing over Democrat John B. Driscoll, 66% to 34%. In Lewis and Clark, the difference was only Downing's 53% to Driscoll's 46%.

Lewis and Clark County had a 76.10% voter turnout, tallying 40,882 votes from 53,715 registered voters. Voter turnout statewide was 74.8% and 597,469 votes were cast.

To view more Montana voting results, visit the secretary of state's website at electionresults.mt.gov/ .

Christine Compton is a reporter for the Helena Independent Record.

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