Nielsen, Rich win commission seats

SANDPOINT — Republicans Mike Nielsen and Lewis Rich easily claimed wins over their Democratic challengers for seats on the Bonner County commission.

The final precincts were tallied about 2 a.m.

Nielsen defeated Brian Orr by almost 4,000 votes in the race for the District 2 seat on the board. With 35 of 35 precincts counted, Nielsen had 8.837 votes to Orr’s 4,865.

In the contest for the District 3 seat, Melissa “Mel” Davis was defeated by incumbent Rich by 3,717 votes. With all precincts reporting, Davis had 4,914 votes compared to Rich’s 8,631.

Incumbent Democrat Marie Scott and Republican challenger Bud Mueller, meanwhile, were locked in a tight race for county clerk. With a third of the precincts reporting, Scott's lead over Mueller was 2,814 to 2,155, a difference of only 659 votes. Scott slowly added to her total to claim the clerk's seat by a with 7,412 votes to Mueller's 6,259 votes.

Nielsen believes his role as challenger instead of incumbent aided his primary victory over incumbent Joe Young in the primary and is hoping his pledge for transparency in local government resonated with voters in the general.

Before his victory was confirmed, Nielsen said he was eager to start getting more detailed budget information on the county website and wants to get a head start on the 2012 spending plan.

“I would like to get started on the budget,” he said.

Although she lost, Davis said she couldn’t help but notice that some of her campaign issues — rural broadband, a new juvenile detention center, and promotion of job growth and education — became a bandwagon that the other candidates seemed to step aboard and get behind.

“I’m really hoping it set the county in the right direction,” she said.

“What we need to focus on is moving this county forward.”