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In the county chambers, a few Town and County officials, candidates and members of the media awaited the official tally, typing away on laptops and peeling through papers in the interim.
Murphy said the number of voters are down in Teton County and in the state. Of the over 12,000 registered voters, only about 3,500 ballots were cast.
“We have not had this low of a turnout since 2012,” Murphy said.
The Democratic Teton County Commissioners race was tight. Incumbent Natalia Macker led all with about 39% of the vote and local attorney Len Carlman was close behind with about 33% of the vote. That leaves Town Councilor Jim Rooks with about 27% of the vote and ousted from the general election come fall.
Melchor Moore — the lone candidate in the Republican primary — and Independent Vicky O’Donoghue both move on.
Macker said she’s grateful for the community members who did show up in a primary that felt like it had less buzz.
“I’m very humbled by the trust that the community has placed in me. I take my job very seriously to represent everyone,” Macker said.
In the Jackson mayoral race — Vice Mayor Arne Jorgensen jumped out to an early lead that didn’t relent. He claimed nearly three quarters of the vote leaving opponent and Town Councilor Jessica Sell-Chambers with the remainder. However, both candidates’ names will grace the ballot in the fall which will decide the future mayor.
Jorgensen said Tuesday’s results are an interesting data point, but ultimately, he’s looking toward the general election.
Town council candidate Kevin Regan and mayoral candidate Arne Jorgensen react to winning their primaries at the Teton County chambers, albeit just barely for Regan who came out on top of his race by just two votes. (Jenna McMurtry / KHOL)
“I feel very good, humbled and honored. It’s always humbling when you go through this process, and I feel really good about it and appreciate the voters that came out to vote on a beautiful summer day,” Jorgensen said.
In the Town Councilors race, voters narrowed down the pool from six candidates to four — but it was closely contested throughout.
Kevin Regan ended the day with a two vote lead claiming about a quarter of the vote. Joining him on the ballot for two open town council seats in the fall are Devon Viehman, Scott Anderson and Perri Stern. Jesse Rauch and Jason Fritts were ousted.
Regan — who showed up last minute to the chambers for final results — said there’s still work to do. His winning margin was slim.
“It’s been a very tight race and there are a lot of experienced and qualified competitors. I’m going to work very hard to differentiate myself. And what I think I bring to the table is that I show up and I work hard, and I’ll continue to fight for the residents of Jackson,” Regan said following his narrow primary win.
Local candidates, electeds and media members awaited the results in the Teton County Commissioners Chambers. Polls closed at 7 p.m. and final results were in around 10 p.m. (Dante Filpula Ankney / KHOL)
Outside local elections on the national level, the Associated Press called both of the U.S. Republican primary races in about an hour with only a fraction of the vote counted.
In the Senate race, incumbent Senator John Barasso beat challengers Reid Rasner and John Holtz. The general election race is set against Democratic candidate Scott Murrow.
In the U.S. House race, incumbent Representative Harriet Hageman beat challenger Steven Helling. Hageman is set for a general election race against Democrat Kyle Cameron.
All state races in Teton County were uncontested. GOP candidates Senator Dan Dockstader and Representative Andrew Byron, plus Democratic Representatives Mike Yin and Liz Storer, will move on to the fall general election.
The general election, which includes the presidential race, is November 5th.
