Spivey wins key northeast Omaha legislative race

Two candidates vied for the Legislature's District 13 seat in northeast Douglas County, including northeast Omaha. From left, Nick Batter and Ashlei Spivey. (Photos courtesy of the candidates; Capitol photo by Rebecca Gratz for the Nebraska Examiner)

OMAHA — The final votes have been counted in a tight northeast Douglas County legislative race, and the winner is a founder and director of a nonprofit intended to support Black women, femmes and girls.

After the final votes were counted Monday, Ashlei Spivey, the founder and executive director of I Be Black Girl, extended her lead to 148 votes over Nick Batter, an Army engineer veteran who is now an attorney for Hawkins Construction. The number of votes separating Spivey and Batter is outside the margin for an automatic recount.

Both touted their Omaha roots and said they wanted to give back to their community for Legislative District 13

"I look forward to passing policy that puts resources and investment back into our community and across the state — truly helping people have access and opportunity to the good life Nebraska has to offer," Spivey said in a statement. "It's time to get to work!"

Batter did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the election results.

Spivey, a Democrat, and Batter, a registered nonpartisan , were vying for the seat held by term-limited State Sen. Justin Wayne. Wayne and North Omaha State Sen. Terrell McKinney, both Democrats, endorsed Spivey.

While the Legislature is officially nonpartisan, the Nebraska Democratic Party made a key investment in seeking to key the seat "blue," and top party leaders often criticized Batter.

The two candidates split the endorsements of two former top Nebraska Democrats who represented Nebraska in the U.S. Senate and the Governor's Mansion: Bob Kerrey, who has been at odds with the current party leadership, endorsed Batter, while Ben Nelson endorsed Spivey.

The Nebraska Democratic Party celebrated Spivey for connecting with middle- and working-class constituents and for being the first Black woman elected to the Legislature since 2017 , when Wayne succeeded former State Sen. Tanya Cook.

Former State Sen. JoAnn Maxey of Lincoln, appointed in 1977, was the first Black woman to serve in the Legislature. Cook and former State Sen. Brenda Council, representing North Omaha's District 11, were the first Black women elected to the Unicameral in 2008.

Final votes remain to be counted in Sarpy County in the close Bellevue-Papillion District 3 race between Victor Rountree and Felix Ungerman. Rountree currently leads by 181 votes.

Sarpy County Election Commissioner Emily Ethington said Friday that approximately 1,800 provisional ballots were returned to her election commission and that the accepted ones would be counted this week. She did not respond to an email asking specifically when those ballots would be counted or how many ballots were outstanding in District 3. There are five legislative districts in Sarpy.