Phillips County Election Results

In one of two contested races in Phillips County last Tuesday, Ann Remely was elected to fill the County Treasurer position. She will also be taking on the position of Superintendent of County Schools, which has been a part-time position for years; this position was most recently filled by Darlene Kolczak.

As a result of changes within the offices at county and state levels, the duties of the County Assessor are now associated with the Treasurer’s office, and this is the third duty Ann will be fulfilling.

With no competition, she was able to get a good night’s sleep and did not worry about when ballots would be tallied.

Ann stated she is looking forward to assuming the duties of the Treasurer’s office, though she is quite familiar with it, having worked in the office for a number of years now. She has been assisting and training for the job with incumbent Treasurer Jean Mavencamp.

When December rolls around, Jean plans to retire. She is the 17th treasurer for the county since 1915 and has been in office 41 years. She followed Marion Goulet in the office.

Assistant Treasurer Lorraine Hellie has been with the office since 1992, for 39 years. Ann was hired two years ago. She is currently in the process of filling a part-time position with applications she has received.

A native of Malta, Ann is the daughter of Howard and the late Sue Berg. Prior to returning to Malta, she worked out of state in an office with a 40M budget, she has a degree in accounting.

“A lot of people have no idea what this office does. I invite anyone with questions to come by the office and ask questions,” Ann stated. The office is on the third floor at the courthouse.

The other contested race at the local level was for the Justice of the Peace. Incumbent Gayle Stahl was challenged by Katie McKeon. Judge Stahl was re-elected.

In other races on the ballot, Phillips County voted for Casey Knudsen in the state House of Representative election, and supported Matt Rosendale with 78% over other candidates for US Representative.

Randy Pinonni received a confident nod with 99% of the votes for Public Service Commissioner District 1; Jim Rice yielded 84% approval for Supreme Court Justice #1. Locally, James Brown compiled 68% of the votes cast, vs 32% for Ingrid Gustafson.

Jonathan Windy Boy amassed 85% vote for State Representative District 32.

In the local County Commissioner race, unopposed John Carnahan, incumbent, was re-elected with a 98% vote. Other locals re-elected include Clerk and Recorder Lynnel LaBrie, Jerry Lytle as Sheriff and Dan O’Brien as County Attorney.

On the local docket both the Constitutional Amendment No. 48 and Legislative Referendum No. 131 passed. Statewide Referendum 131 failed 47-53%.

Of 2,675 registered voters, 1,790 cast their vote for a 66.91% turnout.