Appointed Lincoln senators Bosn, Ballard appear to win Lincoln legislative races
In a repeat of May's primary election, a tranche of Election Day votes helped Sen. Carolyn Bosn defeat challenger Nicki Behmer Popp in the race for the District 25 seat in the Nebraska Legislature.
Bosn, a 42-year-old Republican who was a former prosecutor in the Lancaster County Attorney's Office, had 52.9% of the vote for the seat representing southeast Lincoln and Lancaster County.
Behmer Popp, a 40-year-old Realtor who ran as a nonpartisan to unseat the appointee of Gov. Jim Pillen, was unable to maintain the lead she built in early votes.
"I am very grateful to everyone who turned out in District 25," Bosn said. "And I'm very grateful to all those who helped with my campaign whether that was door knocking, talking to friends or family members, or helping to write postcards."
When the first results were posted at 8 p.m., including all votes cast before 2 p.m. Tuesday afternoon, Behmer Popp, a member of the Lincoln Airport Authority, had 52% of the vote.
That margin began to shrink after the Lancaster County Election Commissioner posted 10:15 p.m. results, and again by the third and fourth round of results that wrapped up the night.
Bosn was boosted by 7,323 in-person votes on election night, compared to Behmer Popp's 5,472.
"I focused on running a campaign that prioritized my own strengths for the position, and I think that served me well," Bosn said.
Bosn was appointed to the seat by Pillen in the middle of the 2023 legislative to finish the term of former state Sen. Suzanne Geist, who resigned to run for mayor of Lincoln.
Ballard retains seat
Across town, a similar scene played out in the race for the seat representing northwest Lincoln and northern Lancaster County.
Seth Derner, 49, a registered Democrat seeking to unseat incumbent Sen. Beau Ballard, opened up a lead in early voting with nearly 53% of the vote as of 9:15 p.m.
Ballard, a 30-year-old Republican, was appointed jointly by Pillen and then-Gov. Pete Ricketts in late 2022 to fill a vacancy left by Attorney General Mike Hilgers, who won two terms as the District 21 state senator.
By 10:15 p.m., Ballard had erased Derner's lead, and surged ahead with 52% of the vote.
As of the final tally by the Lancaster County Election Commission at 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Ballard had more than 55% of the vote total.
"I know early votes swing one way," Ballard said in a brief phone interview. "I'm excited the Election Day voters decided to put their trust in me.
"I look forward to representing District 21 for the next four years," he added.
Prokop beats Liphardt
Jason Prokop easily outpaced Dawn Liphardt in early voting in the race for southwest Lincoln's seat in the Legislature.
Prokop, a 42-year-old Democrat who runs First Five Nebraska, had a 1,000-vote lead in early voting, and mostly maintained that gap by 10:15 p.m. over Liphardt, 58, the executive director of the Nebraska Republican Party.
According to the results from the Lancaster County Election Commission, Prokop was carrying 58.3% of the vote after the first round of in-person ballots were counted.
But Liphardt cut into Prokop's lead by the unofficial final results on Election Day. As of the 12:30 a.m. unofficial final, Prokop led Liphardt by 51.9% to 47.3%.
Prokop will replace Sen. Anna Wishart, a registered Democrat who served two terms representing District 27, but was barred from running again due to term limits.
Bostar runs unopposed
Sen. Eliot Bostar, 37, who represents central Lincoln's District 29, officially won a second term on Tuesday.
He ran unopposed for the seat representing central and southeast Lincoln.
Hallstrom wins Slama's seat
In the legislative seat representing five counties in Southeast Nebraska, a lawyer and lobbyist from Syracuse overcame an early deficit to win the race after midnight.
Robert Hallstrom, 68, who was seeking to replace Sen. Julie Slama in the District 1 legislative seat, won the race with 51.8% of the general election vote.
He moved past 58-year-old Dennis Schaardt, the owner of Den's Country Meats in Table Rock, who maintained a lead through most of the evening.
Both Schaardt and Hallstrom are registered Republicans. Slama, who won reelection four years ago but opted not to seek a second full term, carried the district with 68% of the vote.
District 1 includes Johnson, Nemaha, Otoe, Pawnee and Richardson counties.
Schaardt won four of the five counties, but was unable to overcome the lead built by Hallstrom in Otoe County, the most populous in the district.
In Otoe County, where Syracuse is located, Hallstrom claimed 4,644 votes, or roughly 64.7% of the total.
Storm leads Fujan in District 23
Jared Storm of David City was running ahead of fellow challenger Dennis Fujan of Prague for the District 23 seat as Tuesday turned into Wednesday.
Storm, a businessman and pilot, had 56.6% of the vote as of midnight, including leads in all three counties that make up the district directly north of Lancaster County. But Saunders County was yet to report complete results.
District 23 includes Saunders and Colfax counties, as well as most of Butler County.
Fujan, meanwhile, had 43.4% of the vote.
Sen. Bruce Bostelman of Brainard was term-limited and barred from seeking another term.
Other races close
* The candidates running for the District 15 race representing Dodge County, including Fremont, remained neck and neck as of 12:45 a.m.
Dave Wordekemper managed to gain a lead of roughly 600 votes after running neck-and-neck with Roxie Kracl for much of the night.
Wordekemper appeared on track to replace Sen. Lynne Walz, who was term limited.
Both Kracl and Wordekemper are registered Republicans, which means the seat will flip parties in the officially nonpartisan Legislature.
* In another race that would give Republicans an additional seat, Sen. Jen Day of Gretna fell behind challenger Bob Andersen in the District 49 race late in the evening. Day, who is seeking a second term, had 49% of the vote as of 1 a.m.
* Former Sen. Dan Quick also held onto a small lead in the District 35 race over incumbent Sen. Ray Aguilar, who defeated him four years ago.
Quick, a registered Democrat, had a 50.6% advantage over Aguilar, a Republican, as of 1 a.m.
* Sen. Rob Dover of Norfolk, appointed by Ricketts in 2022 to replace Rep. Mike Flood, received 55.3% of the vote over Jeanne Reigle for the District 19 seat representing Madison County.
Reigle was endorsed by Pillen in the race.
Photos: 2024 Election Day in LincolnCheck out photos from around Lincoln on Election Day.
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