Polls closed tonight in Montana at 10 PM ET, where voters are choosing a successor to former Republican Rep. Ryan Zinke, who represents the state’s lone congressional district and resigned to join Donald Trump’s cabinet earlier this year. The candidates are wealthy Republican businessman Greg Gianforte, who lost a bid for governor last year, and Democrat Rob Quist, a popular folk musician.
Gianforte stunned the political world when he physically attacked a reporter the day before Election Day and was charged with assault. However, a large proportion of votes (perhaps two-thirds or more) were cast before the incident. Trump won Montana by a 56-35 margin last fall. Win or lose, Gianforte is scheduled to appear in court by June 7.
Robert Yoon of Inside Elections has put together a helpful look at the key counties to watch as the returns come in.
Results: Secretary of State | AP (statewide, by county)
Friday, May 26, 2017 · 3:11:48 AM +00:00
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David Nir
With 44% of precincts partially counted (likely meaning that only the early vote has been tallied) and just 5% fully counted, Gianforte now leads Quist 48-46. As we’ve noted, Gianforte is winning Montana’s biggest county, Yellowstone, by 20 points, even though he only won it by 1 point last year (while losing statewide by 4). There’s also quite a bit of rural red turf that hasn’t come in yet.
Friday, May 26, 2017 · 3:58:16 AM +00:00
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David Nir
The AP's count is a few thousand votes ahead of the SoS’s, and they have Gianforte up 51-43 with what they say are 54% of precincts reporting. The AP is going with a traditional “precincts counted” tally, which is different from the state’s unusual (but helpful) approach of tallying up partially versus fully counted precincts separately.