Primary Election Recap: County Dems Go for Obama, Turn Out in Record Numbers

Sharon Peregoy-Stewart, pictured center in the red, elk-tooth dress, waves a sign during Barack Obama's visit to the reservation last month. Peregoy won the Democratic primary race for state Senate District 21. Obama took 78 percent of the vote in Big Horn County (Crow News/Casey Kills Pretty Enemy).

Mary Hudetz
CrowNews.Net

When he visited the reservation last month, Sen. Barack Obama was adopted into the tribe, given a Crow name and ended a speech he gave on Indian policy by saying he wouldn't forget his "own brothers and own sisters."

When Crows went to the polls last week, they voted for Obama in numbers that suggest many tribal members really do consider him one of their own.

Obama, now the presumptive Democratic nominee, took 90 percent of the vote among the reservation's Democrats. Hillary Clinton won nine percent of the vote.

In Big Horn County, where Obama had his best showing in the Big Sky state, he won with 78 percent of the vote. The candidate saw his second largest spread in the state in Missoula County, where he won 71 percent.

Cindy Maxwell, clerk and recorder, said more people voted in Tuesday's election than in any other primary in Big Horn County history, a trend that emerged nationwide throughout the historic primary season. More than 3,000 voters in the county went to the polls, setting the voter turnout rate at 47 percent.

"I was pleased with the Obama campaign and how its volunteers conducted themselves and pushed for early voting," she said.

Crow Country voters also weighed in on a slew of primaries for state and local offices. Many of the races for these seats will likely be more heavily contested in the fall.

Take Gov. Brian Schweitzer, an adopted member of the tribe like Obama, and his Republican rival Roy Brown. Both candidates went virtually unchallenged in their respective Democratic and Republican fields for the governor's office. But they will square-off for what is sure to be a more heated fall contest.

Locally, John Pretty On Top ran as an incumbent in a race for county commissioner and won. He faces Ellis Murdock.

J. David Roundstone defeated Rebecca Convery in the Democratic primary for state House District 41.

In the most competitive of local races this primary season, Sharon Stewart-Peregoy won a close, four-way Democratic contest for the District 21 state senate seat, which represents portions of Big Horn, Rosebud, Yellowstone and Powder River counties. She'll run against Republican Randen Schoppe in the general election

Stewart-Peregoy, a research and development analyst for the Crow Tribe's economic development department, emerged as the winner late in the evening, edging out candidates Chip Watts, Kenneth Brien and Norma Bixby.

With all precincts reporting, Peregoy won with 26 percent of the vote. Bixby came in second with 24 percent. Watts and Brien fell third and fourth, respectively, according to the Montana Secretary of State office's website.

At the end of the prolonged Democratic presidential primary season, both Clinton and Obama visited the Big Sky State and Indian Country, shining a national spotlight on a number Native American issues.

And there's a good chance the Native vote will be courted again in the run-up to November's general election. Both Mccain and Obama are vying for victories in the Rocky Mountain West, much of which is Indian Country.

Reznet's Kevin Abourezk reports that John McCain, an Arizona senator and the presumptive Republican nominee, held a meeting with the All Indian Pueblo Council and Navajo Nation delegates the day before the Montana and South Dakota primaries.

The region, long a Republican stronghold in presidential politics, has seen recent shifts in demographics and political climate. With Republicans hoping to hold onto the West and Democrats seeking to lay claim to what was once a mostly red region, states along the Rockies are shaping up to be potential political battlegrounds.

This prospect means a possible spike in voter turnout in Montana's counties during the fall, and clerk and recorder Maxwell says she hopes many people will vote early just as they did last week. She encourages everyone to request an absentee ballot and they will be available starting Oct. 6. Election day is Nov. 4.

Editor's note: An early version of this article detailing the state senate race was published June 4.

Locally, John Pretty On Top ran as an incumbent in a race for county commissioner and won. He faces Ellis Murdock.

J. David Roundstone defeated Rebecca Convery in the Democratic primary for state House District 41.

In the most competitive of local races this primary season, Sharon Stewart-Peregoy won a close, four-way Democratic contest for the District 21 state senate seat, which represents portions of Big Horn, Rosebud, Yellowstone and Powder River counties. She'll run against Republican Randen Schoppe in the general election

Stewart-Peregoy, a research and development analyst for the Crow Tribe's economic development department, emerged as the winner late in the evening, edging out candidates Chip Watts, Kenneth Brien and Norma Bixby.

With all precincts reporting, Peregoy won with 26 percent of the vote. Bixby came in second with 24 percent. Watts and Brien fell third and fourth, respectively, according to the Montana Secretary of State office's website.

At the end of the prolonged Democratic presidential primary season, both Clinton and Obama visited the Big Sky State and Indian Country, shining a national spotlight on a number Native American issues.

And there's a good chance the Native vote will be courted again in the run-up to November's general election. Both Mccain and Obama are vying for victories in the Rocky Mountain West, much of which is Indian Country.

Reznet's Kevin Abourezk reports that John McCain, an Arizona senator and the presumptive Republican nominee, held a meeting with the All Indian Pueblo Council and Navajo Nation delegates the day before the Montana and South Dakota primaries.

The region, long a Republican stronghold in presidential politics, has seen recent shifts in demographics and political climate. With Republicans hoping to hold onto the West and Democrats seeking to lay claim to what was once a mostly red region, states along the Rockies are shaping up to be potential political battlegrounds.

This prospect means a possible spike in voter turnout in Montana's counties during the fall, and clerk and recorder Maxwell says she hopes many people will vote early just as they did last week. She encourages everyone to request an absentee ballot and they will be available starting Oct. 6. Election day is Nov. 4.

Editor's note: An early version of this article detailing the state senate race was published June 4.

Comments

[Crow voter]

Itchiik, I know Sharon will stand up for us on Indian issues. After all she is a real indian who can speak Crow. And how in the heck can K. Brien get beat by a white guy on his own rez? Pathetic, oh well most of Brien's friends are the indian haters anyway. I hope he takes his ugly signs down right away, also I applaud all the voters who voted for Sharon, It just goes to prove that the majority of Big Horn county is SMART, and who ever voted for the person with the fewest votes is .... well you get the picture.
Aho Apsaalokaate

[mydogsandy]

Hi Everyone,
What a wonderful primary! I would like to discuss the issue of my lost book, Barack Obama's, "Audacity of Hope." I went to the Obama Rally at Crow Agency on May 19, 2008. I had my book signed by Mr. Obama. I never received my book back. I waited and waited, and a man from the BIA, and two Tribal Leaders told me that it was left in the white tent. Someone else also told me that a copy of the book was handed back to a woman in the crowd, as most of the crowd had left. I looked in the tent, and there was no book. I would really like to have my book back, and if any one knows who may have borrowed it, could they please contact me at my email of: mydogsandy@fiberpipe.net

Thank you so much!
mydogsandy@fiberpipe.net