Lewis and Clark County prosecutor Mike Menahan soundly defeated retired state administrator Matt Cohn in Tuesday's primary, securing the Democratic nomination in House District 82 by nearly a 2-to-1 margin.

According to unofficial county election results, Menahan earned 1,384 votes to Cohn's 734. Menahan now faces Republican Chris Sinrud in the Nov. 4 general election.

Both candidates congratulated each other for a hard-fought, clean race run on the issues.

"The attention of this race was very much on the constituents that both of us wanted to serve," Menahan said. "It was a real rewarding process. I congratulate Matt for the hard work that he did."

Menahan said the question before voters in the fall will be whether to continue four years of progress initiated by Gov. Brian Schweitzer's administration or to return to Republican rule at the Capitol.

"Congratulations to Mike," Cohn said. "Obviously, he impressed the voters. He's a good man, and he ran a good race. I wish him all the best."

Cohn said the election was a wonderful experience. He campaigned throughout the district by bike.

"I met thousands of people, I learned about our community, and I lost 14 pounds," he said.