(UPDATE, 10:30 pm) Voting closed at 8 p.m. on Tuesday, November 2, 2021 for the Great Falls municipal election.
There were two candidates for mayor: Fred Burow and Bob Kelly. There were six candidates for two seats on the City Commission: Joshua Copeland, Vanessa Hayden, Eric Hinebauch, Joe McKenney, Paige Turoski, and Susan Wolff.
The Cascade County Elections Office provided the following unofficial results at 10:15 p.m., representing more than 90% of all votes (leading candidates in bold).
MAYOR
- Burow 4,785
- Kelly 8,168
COMMISSIOMER
- Copeland 3,687
- Hayden 1,558
- Hinebauch 4,058
- McKenney 4,886
- Turoski 2,840
- Wolff 6,185
We will post official results once they are released, which will likely be on Wednesday afternoon.
(1st REPORT, 8:26 pm) The Cascade County Elections Office released the following initial, unofficial results at 8:15 p.m., representing about 90% of all votes (leading candidates in bold).
MAYOR
- Burow: 4,249
- Kelly: 7,503
COMMISSIONER
- Copeland: 3,342
- Hayden: 1,422
- Hinebauch: 3,665
- McKenney: 4,419
- Turoski: 2,512
- Wolff: 5,636
- Write-in: 62
Final results will be released either late Tuesday night or on Wednesday; we will post an update when that happens.
Cascade County Clerk & Recorder Rina Fontana Moore says this year’s election has gotten less interest than years’ past and is unsure why, adding she noticed more campaign signs around town than usual.
“We’ve gotten just over 10,000 ballots back. That’s kind of disappointing when we sent out 29,000 of them,” she said. “Usually, they are about 15 to 20-thousand and a lot of people mail theirs in as opposed to coming in. We’re surprised we only got 10,000 by now but we’re hoping a lot of people are just turning them in today.”
From the City of Great Falls website:
Salary of City Commission members
Pursuant to the Official Code of the City of Great Falls (OCCGF) 2.1.020 the salary of each Commissioner shall be three hundred twelve dollars ($312) per month. The salary of the Mayor shall be four hundred sixty-eight dollars ($468) per month.
Qualifications and Election of the City Commissioners
City Commissioner candidates shall be qualified electors of the City of Great Falls, and be residents of Great Falls for at least 60 days preceding the election.
City Commission
The City Commission is composed of a Mayor and four Commissioners who serve overlapping terms. In Great Falls, municipal elections are held in the uneven numbered years. The Mayor and Commissioners are elected at-large on a non-partisan basis.
Composition
The City Commission is composed of five voting members: four city commissioners and the mayor. The City Commission is the legislative and policy-making body of the City of Great Falls.
