STORY AND PHOTO BY KAREN BOSSICK

Blaine County voters flipped through up to 30 pages on their electronic ballot as they voted on two levy proposals and a handful of contested state and county elections in Tuesday’s primary.

And when the votes had been tallied, they had passed both the Blaine County Ambulance District Temporary Override Tax Levy and a measure creating the Big Wood River Library District.

Both levies needed a simple majority of 50 percent plus one to pass.

The Blaine County Ambulance measure received 3,236 “Yes” votes or 69.92 percent of the votes cast. It received 1,907 “No” votes—or 37.08 percent of the votes cast. The measure will add $6.72 per $100,000 of taxable value for two years to help pay the costs of ambulance operations and emergency medical services.

The Big Wood River Library District received 2,042 “Yes” votes, or 59.05 percent to 1,416 “No” votes, or 40.95 percent of the vote.

Passage will allow a library district to be created to extend library services to all from Greenhorn and East Fork Roads south to the boundaries of the Little Wood River Library District and the border of Blaine County. The property tax to fund the district’s budget will be $2,150,000 for tax year 2027—an estimated annual cost of $28 per $100,000 of taxable assessed value.

In contested races, Dawn Cieslik beat incumbent clerk Stephen Graham for the Blaine County clerk’s position. Eric Demment beat Stephen Gaylord for the County Coroner position. And District 26A Rep. Mike Pohanka fended off challenger Jeff Emerick.

Statewide Gov. Brad Little easily got the Republican nomination with more than half the vote while Terri Pickens got the nod from Democrats.

U.S. Rep. Russ Fulcher got the U.S. House District 1 nomination while U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson, the District 2 nomination. Kaylee Peterson will run against Fulcher and Ketchum resident Ellie Gilbreath against Simpson, having tallied a wide margin over her opponent.

Sen. Jim Risch got the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate while David Roth laid claim to the U.S. Senate nomination from the Democrats.

Blaine County’s election drew about 35 percent of registered voters, or 5,232 of 15,073 registered voters. Of that, 523 voted by mail; 1,585 by early vote and 3,123 at the polls on election day.

Here are the contested state races of interest, as well as unofficial Blaine County results with 15 of 16 precincts reporting:

DEMOCRAT BALLOT

U.S. SENATOR

Nickolas 007 Bonds 179—6.93 percent

Brad Moore 863—33.40 percent

David Roth 1,542—59.67 percent

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 2

Ellie Gilbreath 2,111—75.83 percent

Julie Wiley 673—24.17 percent

GOVERNOR

Maxine Durand 360—13.67 percent

Jill C. Kirkham 622—23.62 percent

Terri Pickens 1,436—54.54 percent

Chanelle Torrez 215—8.17 percent

STATE SENATOR, DISTRICT 26

Ron Taylor 2,899—100 percent

STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 26 SEAT A

Anita Janis 2,752—100 percent

STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 26 SEAT B

Kevin Marsh 2,733—100 percent

COUNTY COMMISSIONER DISTRICT 1

Lindsay Mollineaux 2,850—100 percent

COUNTY COMMISSIONER DISTRICT 2

Muffy Davis 2,927—100 percent

CLERK OF THE DISTRICT COURT

Dawn Cieslik 1,719—57 percent

Stephen Graham 1,297—43 percent

COUNTY TREASURER

John David Davidson 2,805—100 percent

COUNTY ASSESSOR

Jim Williams 2,772—100 percent

COUNTY CORONER

Eric Demment 1,214—42.31 percent

Stephen Gaylord 925—32.24 percent

Connie Hoffman 730—25.44 percent (Connie received votes even though she had withdrawn from the race due to family obligations.)

DISTRICT JUDGE SEAT BLAINE A

Ned Williamson

REPUBLICAN BALLOT

U.S. SENATOR

Joe Evans 262—17.36 percent

Denny LaVe 78—5.17 percent

Jim Risch 1,030—68.26 percent

Josh Roy 139—9.21 percent

U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 2

Brian Keene 295—19.64 percent

Perry Shumway 149—9.92 percent

Mike Simpson 1,058—70.44 percent

GOVERNOR

Sean Calvert Crystal 38—2.49 percent

Mark Fitzpatrick 242—15.86 percent

Daniel C. Fowler 33—2.16 percent

Ethan Giles 24—1.57 percent

Ron James 41—2.69 percent

Brad Little 1,038—68.02 percent

Lisa Marie 73—4.78 percent

Justin R. Plante 37—2.42 percent

STATE SENATOR DISTRICT 26

Bryan Hyde 1,216—100 percent

STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 26 SEAT A

Jeff Emerick 523—36.42 percent

Mike Pohanka 913—63.58 percent

STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 26 SEAT B

Lyle Johnston 1,197—100 percent

COUNTY COMMISSIONER DISTRICT 1

Logan Davis 1,217—100 percent

CLERK OF THE DISTRICT COURT

Darcy Creech 1,200—100 percent