Absentee ballots for the Billings City Council General Election are currently being mailed out to all voters in the city who were registered to vote prior to October 7th. Eligible city residents who aren’t already registered can still acquire an absentee ballot from the Yellowstone County Elections Office on the first floor of the county courthouse and all ballots will need to be returned by November 5th. A minimum of four new members will be joining the Billings City Council, with Roy Neese of Ward 2 being the only incumbent seeking reelection. With 62% of voters not casting a vote in the primary elections, it will be interesting to see if more people will turn out for the general election and how that may change the final outcome.
In Ward 1, Kendra Shaw will face off against John Armstrong. Shaw won 47.47% of the vote in the primary with Armstrong coming in at 26.74%. Jim Ronquillo was eliminated with 25%.
Ward 2 pits the aforementioned Roy Neese, the only incumbent, against challenger Randy Heinz. Neese may have a lock on this race, coming in at just under 50% in the primary. Heinz was his closest challenger at near 20% while Michael Richardson and Roger Gravgaard were eliminated.
Ward 3 was the only Ward to not have a primary as there are only two people running for the seat. It remains a contest between Danny Choriki and Aldo Rowe.
Ward 4 may be the closest of the races. Pam Purinton, 37% in the primary, and Carmelita Dominguez, 27%, will be facing off after beating out four others in the most populated race of this election. Daron Olson, Gordon Olson, Nicole Gallagher, and Matthew Senn were all eliminated in the primary.
Ward 5 has Dennis Ulvestad and Mike Boyett vying for the seat. Boyett came in first in the primary with close to 39% of the vote to Dennis Ulvestad’s 25% while Jennifer Merecki, 21%, Frederick Wilburn, 11%, and Leilahni Kay, 4%, were all eliminated.
Mayor Bill Cole says the main issue those elected will face is the $6 million gap in the City’s general and public safety budgets. “In recent years we’ve shifted resources to hire more police officers and meet other public safety needs, but the money has simply run out,” says Mayor Cole, “We need more police, prosecutors, firefighters, fire stations, and civilian support staff. But the reality is that we don’t have a sustainable way to pay for what we have now without passing a new public safety mill levy.” Those who win their desired position will have to look into what can be done up to and including a public safety mill levy for those purposes among many other issues the city is faced with.
