Greg Gianforte speaking in Billings when Vice President Mike Pence visited. (Jonathan McNiven photo)
YELLOWSTONE COUNTY — Yellowstone County voters turned out to support Greg Gianforte Thursday in his Republican bid for Montana’s only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Gianforte won 29,745 votes in Yellowstone County, or 55.84 percent of the county’s ballots.
Democrat Rob Quist received 19,671 votes, 36.93 percent of the Yellowstone County vote.
Independent Mark Wicks won 1,766 votes, or 6.74 percent.
Of the 97,062 registered voters in Yellowstone County, 53,336 ballots were cast for 54.9 percent voter turnout. Statewide, voter turnout was calculated at 54.22 percent as 379,763 of the state’s 700,428 registered voters cast ballots in Thursday’s special election.
Gianforte will complete the unexpired term of Ryan Zinke, R-Montana, who was elected to the House in November 2016 but tapped by President Donald Trump in January to become Secretary of the Interior. Zinke resigned from the House in March, triggering the statewide special election to select his replacement.
Both Gianforte and Quist are political newcomers, although Gianforte ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2016, losing to Gov. Steve Bullock in the November general election.
Across the state, Gianforte won 45 counties, including Flathead County, where Quist lives. Quist won 11 counties, including Gallatin County, where Gianforte lives. Quist also won Glacier County, Big Horn, Park, Lewis and Clark, Hill, Blaine, Roosevelt, Silver Bow, Deer Lodge and Missoula counties.
Gianforte is facing … Read full story online by subscribing.
