BUTTE — It was good general election for many of Butte’s incumbents, including Butte Chief Executive J.P. Gallagher who was elected to a second term. And his first official duty of his new term: get it out of here!
“I’m doing what I think everybody wants us to do is get down these political signs, so we’re going to be quick about it and get these down and move on,” said Gallagher, who was removing his campaign signs from around Butte the day after the General Election.
Unofficial results show Gallagher beat his challenger, Bill Foley, by getting 57 percent of the votes. Gallagher said the strong win is a sign of confidence the voters have in him.
“I know that, you know, the last four years we’ve made a lot of progress and I think that the voters spoke to that, you know, and elected me for four more years,” said Gallagher.
Incumbent Sheriff Ed Lester had an even wider margin of victory over his challenger Mike Gage. Lester said the credit for his win goes to the police officers that serve under him.
“Given the margin of victory, I think the people saw that the people that work here do a good job and, like I said, I’m fortunate to work with them and I happened to be the beneficiary last night,” said Lester.
The County Attorney’s race finished in a near-dead heat in which Matt Enrooth edged incumbent interim County Attorney Kelli Fivey by just 79 votes. Because the race is so close, there will likely be a recount before a winner is officially announced.
