So far my prediction has been right...I knew Keenan couldn't even come close to Burns in the Republican Primary (just too much of an unknown and hardly even campaigned)- but I thought (and hoped) Tester could beat Morrison (who is another career politician)- but I never thought it would be by such a margin....
Its going to be interesting from here on...What I thought was interesting was the fact that in a state that was heavily a red state for Bush in the last election (but that also went Democrat and elected a Democrat governor) -- this election had a heavier Democrat voter turnout- 106,000 to 95,000 Republican.... My county that is normally pretty 50-50 and votes for the man not the party, went 4 to 1 Democrat (mainly because of a hot Democrat commissioner race and no Republican contested local races)--But it also went 3-1 for Tester....
Not sure how to read this- but I think it could be Montanans saying they don't care for fraud, deceit, and infidelities in their politicians- since both Burns and Morrison were tied to scandals.....
Anyway now a whole lot more out of state money will pour in .....Will get interesting....
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Tester routs Morrison, will challenge Burns
Embattled incumbent beats Keenan by 3-to-1 margin
By CHARLES S. JOHNSON
Gazette State Bureau
HELENA -- Jon Tester, a populist farmer, won a decisive victory over John Morrison in the Democratic primary for the U.S. Senate on Tuesday and will face three-term Republican incumbent Sen. Conrad Burns, who won his primary handily, in November.
Tester, outspent by Morrison by nearly a 2-to-1 margin, led almost from the start of the vote counting Tuesday evening. He ended up defeating Morrison, the state auditor, by about 25 percentage points in the five-way primary.
Although Tester was considered an underdog in the five-candidate Democratic Senate race, he gained momentum in closing weeks of the campaign through an extensive grass-roots effort.
Burns, meanwhile, coasted to an easy victory over state Senate Minority Leader Bob Keenan to capture the four-way Republican primary. Burns topped Keenan by a better than a 3-to-1 margin. Montana's Senate race is among the most watched nationally because Burns is rated as one of the most vulnerable Republican senators for his link to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Here are the latest results as of 9:00 am, with 98 percent of the votes counted:
Democrats:
Tester: 64,464 votes or 60.8 percent.
Morrison: 37,516 votes or 35.4 percent.
Paul Richards: 1,602 or 1.5 percent.
Robert Candee: 1,449 votes or 1.4 percent.
Kenneth Marcure: 921 votes or 0.9 percent.
Republicans:
Burns: 68,511 votes or 72.4 percent.
Keenan: 20,970 votes or 22.2 percent.
Bob Kelleher: 3,971 votes or 4.2 percent.
Daniel Lloyd Neste Huffman: 1,159 votes or 1.2 percent.