Nielsen, incumbents win primary races

SANDPOINT — All but one of the candidates holding public office in Bonner County were able to stave off challengers during Tuesday’s primary election.

Mike Nielsen edged incumbent Commissioner Joe Young by 619 votes to win the Republican nomination for the District 2 seat. Nielsen finished the contest with 2,680 votes and Young finished with 2,061. The third contestant in the race, Patty Douglas Palmer, picked up 533 votes.

“The more I worked, the more people I ran into and the more positive the experience was,” Nielsen said of his primary campaign.

Nielsen, who faces Oldtown Democrat Brian Orr in November’s general election, said the only negative experience involved an aggressive blue heeler that raced out of the woods and bit his wife while they were on the campaign trail.

If elected, Nielsen said he would take a multifaceted approach to improving public safety via better roads and more reliable emergency communications infrastructure, such as ironing out problems with faltering radio equipment on Baldy Mountain.

“That is totally unacceptable to me for public safety communications. Lives are in the balance whether it’s an officer in pursuit or it’s a patient that needs medical,” said Nielsen.

Young was not immediately available for comment on Wednesday.

Incumbent Lewis Rich trailed slightly behind Clark Fork Councilman Russ Schenck during Tuesday night’s count. But when the dust settled, Rich held an 87-vote lead over Schenck. Gene Brown, who was also angling for the District 3 Republican nomination, finished with a respectable 1,039 votes.

Schenck said he would not rule out another run for office.

“I would have liked to have gotten in and done my part, but maybe another day,” he said.

Rich will have to fend off Democrat Melissa “Mel” Davis in the general in order to keep his seat on the board. Davis, who had no Democrat challenger, won 586 votes in the primary.

In a hard-fought race for the GOP nomination for assessor, incumbent Jerry Clemons finished on top by a 747-vote margin. Clemons amassed 3,082 votes to Harvey’s 2,335. Neither candidate was immediately available for comment on Wednesday.

Clemons is currently a shoo-in to retain his seat.

Incumbent Treasurer Cheryl Piehl won the primary’s most lopsided race by capturing 78 percent of the vote. She secured the GOP nomination with 4,089 votes. Challenger John Maras ended up with 1,137 votes.

Piehl said she hopes her empathy for taxpayers weathering rough economic conditions resonated with voters.

“I appreciate everyone’s vote and I’ll just take the criticisms and try to make improvements,” said Piehl.

Former Commissioner Bud Mueller, who was uncontested for the Republican nod for county clerk, won 3,331 votes. Incumbent Clerk Marie Scott, a Democrat who likewise had no primary challenger, picked up 644 votes.

Scott said slightly more than 29 percent of the county’s registered voters cast ballots. The primary turnout in 2008 was 31 percent and the 2006 primary turnout was 28 percent.

There were suspicions that turnout would be slight on Tuesday, but voting picked up later in the day, said Scott.

“Things really got busy between noon and 8 o’clock,” she said.

Seven hundred and twenty two suffragists voted a Democrat ticket on Tuesday, while 5,831 voted a Republican ballot.

There were 22,561 registered voters when the polls opened, although election-day registration figures were not immediately available.

District 2

Mike Nielsen (R) — 2,680

Joe Young (R) — 2,061

Patty Douglas Palmer (R) — 533

Brian Orr* (D) — 617

District 3

Lewis Rich (R) — 2,142

Russ Schenck (R) — 2,055

Gene Brown (R) — 1,039

Melissa “Mel” Davis* (D) — 586

Assessor

Jerry Clemons (R) — 3,082

Tina Harvey (R) — 2,335

Treasurer

Cheryl Piehl (R) — 4,089

John Maras (R) — 1,137

Clerk

Bud Mueller* (R) — 3,331

Marie Scott* (D) — 644

* — Denotes uncontested primary candidate