Best’s News & Research Service - November 04, 2020 03:40 PM (EST)
Update: Gianforte Takes Montana Governor’s Race; Incumbents Cruise to Wins
OLDWICK, N.J. //BestWire// - (Updated with North Dakota results in the penultimate paragraph.) Republican Greg Gianforte was in position to become Montana’s next governor as of the afternoon of Nov. 4, according to unofficial statewide results.
Gianforte, who has been the state’s at-large Congressman since 2017, was on his way to defeating Democrat Mike Cooney by a 54-42 margin with 70% of the vote counted, according to the Montana Secretary of State’s office. Libertarian Lyman Bishop recorded about 4% of the vote, it said.
Assuming the vote margins hold, a Gianforte win will flip the seat back to the GOP. Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock, who was term limited under the state constitution, trailed in his bid for the state’s open U.S. Senate seat.
Gianforte likely will have a fellow Republican serving as the state’s insurance commissioner. In that race, Troy Downing was leading Democrat Shane Morigeau and Libertarian Roger Roots with 55% of the vote, it said. Party control of the office, the Montana State Auditor and Commissioner of Securities and Insurance, would not change as its current occupant, Matt Rosendale, is a Republican.
Gianforte, who opposes the Affordable Care Act, has said he would not roll back the expansion of Medicaid in Montana that was made possible by the ACA (Best’s News, Oct. 13, 2020). He also supports retaining the ACA’s ban on exclusions for those with preexisting conditions and an end to surprise medical billing.
The Montana gubernatorial race was the only one of the 11 up for grabs across the U.S. that was considered a toss up, according to the Cook Political Report.
In North Carolina, incumbent Democrat Roy Cooper was holding off Republican Dan Forest by more than 240,000 votes, according to unofficial but complete totals from the state Board of Elections. Cooper received 2.8 million votes, it said, to Forest’s 2.5 million. Two third party candidates picked up about 79,000 votes, or about 1.45% of the vote, it said.
He will serve again with Republican Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, who won his rematch with Wayne Goodwin, state records show.
There were no surprises in governor’s races that the Cook Political Report regarded as solid for either party.
In Washington, Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee led Republican Loren Culp with 59.3% of the vote, records showed as of the afternoon of Nov. 4. He was joined in victory by Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler, who easily won his race, too.
Likewise, Delaware’s Democratic incumbent Gov. John Carney received 292,161 votes, putting him far ahead of Republican Julianne Murray, who received 189,724 votes, and two other third party candidates, records show.
Incumbent Democratic Insurance Commissioner Trindad Navarro also cruised to victory in unofficial results.
Incumbent Republican governors Eric Holcomb in Indiana, Mike Parson in Missouri, Chris Sununu in New Hampshire, Phil Scott in Vermont and Jim Justice in West Virginia all rolled to easy victories. They all have authority to appoint an insurance commissioner. In North Dakota, which elects its insurance commissioner, incumbent Gov. Doug Burgum also won.
Republican Spencer Cox also easily won the open governor’s seat in Utah, defeating Democrat Chris Peterson with 64.2% of the vote, an unofficial tally showed.
(By Timothy Darragh, associate editor, BestWeek: Timothy.Darragh@ambest.com)