Bozeman election results: WARD fails, Fischer elected mayor

By Carli Johnson SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATOR

Voting closed on Tuesday, Nov. 4, for the Gallatin County municipal election. The county election offices began counting votes and the unofficial results began rolling in around 8 p.m.

On the ballot this year were mayoral candidates Douglas Fischer, John Meyer and Brendan O’Connor. According to unofficial final results updated shortly after midnight on Nov. 5, Fischer took the mayoral race by a wide margin.

The Bozeman City Commission had two seats up for election. According to the unofficial results, returning for another term is Emma Bode and new to the commission is Alison Sweeney.

Finally, a strong majority of voters voted against the controversial WARD initiative, backed by mayoral candidate John Meyer. The initiative received criticism leading up to the election from groups representing housing, real estate and environmental efforts.

WARD Initiative

The ballot initiative, drafted by Water Adequacy for Residential Development, or WARD, would amend the Bozeman Municipal Code to change how water rights are given out to developers. If passed, WARD says that this would both increase the quantity of affordable housing in Bozeman and help prevent the depletion of its finite water supply. However, the initiative received criticism from many activist groups concerned that the initiative would create more challenges rather than solve the issues surrounding the housing crisis.