It'll be Jordan vs. Little in fall Lt. Gov. race too close to call
Photo by Duane Rasmussen Ann Seddon, former District 271 School District Board member, does her best to attract last-minute votes for Raul Labrador Tuesday near the southeast corner of U.S. 95 and Canfield Avenue in Coeur d'Alene.
Paulette Jordan, state representative from Plummer, rode a surprise progressive wave to the Democratic nomination for governor in Tuesday’s primary.
She will face Lt. Gov. Brad Little, who was declared the winner by the Associated Press with 37.3 percent of the vote in a seven-way race.
U.S. Rep. Raúl Labrador earned 30.9 percent of the vote with 674 of 951 precincts reporting at 11:30 p.m., and Treasure Valley businessman Tommy Ahlquist received 28.2 percent.
The remaining 3.6 percent of the vote was split among Harley Delano Brown, Dalton Ben Cannady, Lisa Marie, and Steve Pankey.
Jordan knocked off A.J. Balukoff, receiving 57.5 percent of the vote. Balukoff collected 41.1 percent, and Peter Dill scooped up the remaining 1.4 percent.
A member of the Coeur d’Alene Tribe, Jordan is seeking to become Idaho’s first female governor and the first Native American governor in United States history.
Jordan’s running mate, Kristin Collum, made quick work of Jim Fabe to become the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor.
She took home a whopping 88.3 percent of the vote to Fabe’s 11.7 percent.
Collum and Jordan announced last week they would be running under a joint ticket.
On the Republican side, Janice McGeachin led Steve Yates by only a couple hundred votes at press time.
State Sen. Bob Nonini, of Coeur d’Alene, was running last with a 13.6 percent share. Marv Hagedorn and Kelley Packer garnered 15.3 and 15 percent, respectively.
The winner between McGeachin and Yates will advance to a showdown with Collum in the November general election.
In the First District U.S. Congressional race, Republican Russ Fulcher and Democrat Cristina McNeil nabbed their parties’ nominations.
Fulcher won with relative ease, grabbing a 43.5 percent share of the total.
David Leroy received 17.3 percent of the vote, good enough for second in the Republican primary.
State Rep. Luke Malek, of Coeur d’Alene, was in third place out of seven candidates with 13.6 percent.
Christy Perry and Michael Snyder were running close behind with 10.3 and 10 percent of the vote, respectively. Alex Gallegos and Nick Henderson, of Post Falls, rounded out the field with 3.5 and 1.8 percent.
McNeil cruised to victory with 69.2 percent of the vote, while James Vandermaas and Michael Smith, of Post Falls, took 16.5 and 14.2 percent, respectively.
McNeil and Fulcher will duke it out in November for the right to fill the seat vacated by Labrador.