HELENA, MONTANA - Democratic challenger Jon Tester clung to a narrow lead over Republican incumbent Sen. Conrad Burns Tuesday night in Montana's U.S. Senate race, but vote-counting delays prevented a winner from being declared.

Tester jumped to an early lead over Burns, but the GOP senator wasn't ready to concede because of delays in vote tallying in Flathead County, a Republican stronghold, and Gallatin County, which Burns carried in his 2000 re-election.

As of press time, with 73 percent of the precincts counted statewide, the unofficial tally showed Tester with 146,300 votes for 50 percent, while Burns had 139,448 or 47 percent. Libertarian Stan Jones trailed with 7,293 votes for 3 percent.

Despite his lead, Tester was not declaring victory.

Speaking to a roomful of supporters in a Great Falls hotel shortly before midnight, Tester urged them to remain at what they hoped would be a victory party.

"We'll be coming out here in an hour, maybe two, maybe a half hour and then we'll be able to party, OK," Tester said. "Stick around. I guarantee you it will be worth the wait."

He then pumped his fist to supporters.

In Billings, Burns sat in his hotel room watching returns. His wife, Phyllis, told television reporters he had lost his voice, but still made calls on Election Day.

Burns believed he could reverse Tester's lead when the full vote count came in from heavily Republican Flathead County, senior campaign adviser Erik Iverson said. The vote tallying machine in Flathead County broke down, so officials there were counting votes by hand.

And Gallatin County, another heavily populated area that is a poltical battleground, hadn't reported any vote totals by press time.

Iverson was preparing for a long night.

"It's slow going, that's for sure," he said.

Although Burns trailed in the early returns, Iverson said the senator was not giving up hope.

We're likely in for a long night," Iverson said. "We're anxious to see what happens up in the Flathead."

Gallatin County, which had people register to vote and cast their ballots past the 8 p.m. poll closing time, also hadn't reported any results. Iverson said Burns believed he could win that county as well.

Although Tester led in Yellowstone, Iverson said the campaign didn't know yet which precincts the votes had been counted. And there were late reports that Yellowstone was recounting all its ballots.

The latest returns showed Burns with a 3,400-vote lead in Flathead County, with 60 percent of the vote counted, while Tester had a 130-vote margin in Gallatin, with only 2 percent of the vote tallied. Burns emerged with a 2,400-vote lead in Ravalli County, with all the votes tallied.

However, Tester was counting on more votes from heavily Democratic Silver Bow County, where he had a 3,000-vote lead with only 31 percent of the votes tallied.

Tester also had a 1,300-vote advantage in Yellowstone County, the state's most populous, but only 44 percent of the votes were counted. Yellowstone is Burns' home county.

Tester also had racked up an 1,800-vote lead in Cascade County, another strong Democratic bastion of votes, with a number of votes yet to be tallied. And Missoula County voters went squarely for the challenger, giving Tester 27,918 votes to 15,045 for Burns.

Article from the Missoulian