Voters in Ward 2 sent a message Tuesday that they want change on the Missoula City Council by narrowly electing Pam Walzer over incumbent Don Nicholson.Walzer, a scientist and jewelry maker, garnered 998 votes to Nicholson’s 906. The loss denied Nicholson a third term on the council. He served one of his terms in the mid-1970s.
Ward 2 comprises northwest Missoula, including North Reserve Street and the Grant Creek area.
Nicholson led after initial vote counts, but as updated tallies came in his margin shrank.
Before Walzer’s 52 percent tally was announced, Nicholson left the courthouse but acknowledged that he had likely lost.
Walzer said one of her first priorities is to increase Mountain Line bus services to accommodate more people.
“I’ve heard that through the entire ward,” she said at her election party at Red’s Bar. “All neighborhoods would like to see that.”
She attributed her narrow victory to meeting with voters and discussing the issues.
“I now know where every street is in our ward and I’ve walked pretty much the whole thing,” she said. “I’ve worked hard to know the issues and voters, worked really hard.”
Nicholson, a retired paper mill manager, said he felt local media did not adequately cover the campaigns and that he was hurt by a lack of formal debates. Also, the new mail-in balloting system made it difficult for candidates to target voters, Nicholson said.
“You can do the best you can with your literature and talking to people but you can’t know for sure (if you’re reaching people),” he said.
Walzer said that Ward 2 has traditionally had tight elections and that the campaign was rigorous.
“It took several years off my life,” she said.
- By KAYLEE PORTER, KAYLA MATZKE, BILL ORAM, TREVON MILLIARD, HALLADAY QUIST AND BESS DAVIS
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