Update 6am Wednesday November 6

Cory Swanson appears to have won the seat of chief justice of the Montana Supreme Court with 254,071 votes, or 54 percent, over Jeremiah Lynch, who received 216,967 votes, or 46 percent, with 82 percent of the votes counted.

Katherine Bidegaray appears to have won the other contested seat on the court, receiving 255,110 votes, or 54 percent, over Dan Wilson, who received 217,901 votes, or 46 percent.

________________________________________________________

This year, Montanans voted for two open seats on the Montana Supreme Court, an associate justice and chief justice. Recent polls
closed and the races have yet to be called.

The candidates for chief justice are Jerry Lynch and Cory Swanson.

Jerry Lynch is a former federal magistrate judge for the District of Montana, based in Missoula. A native of Butte, Lynch served as a law clerk for federal judge and former Montana Chief Justice Paul Hatfield. He then worked in private practice for ten years before serving as a magistrate judge from 2006 to 2019.

Cory Swanson, of Townsend, has been Broadwater County Attorney since 2015. He previously served as deputy attorney general under former Attorney General Tim Fox. Additionally, he is an officer in the Montana Army National Guard.

The candidates for Associate Justice are Dan Wilson and Katherine Bidegaray.

Dan Wilson of Kalispell is one of five judges for the 11th Judicial District, which covers Flathead County. He was elected to this position in 2016 and re-elected in 2022. Wilson previously served as a deputy attorney general and then spent about a decade in private practice, doing a variety of work, including family law and criminal law. In 2010, he was elected justice of the peace for Flathead County.

Katherine Bidegaray of Sidney has been a district judge since 2003 — one of two serving the 7th Judicial District, which includes Richland, Dawson, McCone, Prairie and Wibaux counties on Montana’s eastern edge. She said her background in rural and eastern Montana would bring a different perspective to the court.